Friday, March 29, 2013

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

We have a winner for the My Favorite Tools Giveaway! Julie you are my winner! Congrats crafty chica! I will be emailing you shortly! You are going to be receiving some of my favorite things and one of my favorite tools! A three pack of Distress Stickles, Thickers, Tombow glue sticks and a Xyron sticker maker and a refill!! Congrats!!

Monday, March 25, 2013

My Favorite Tools

Happy Monday everyone!  I am here with another one of my favorite tools!!  I have so many favorite tools that I think I may just make this an ongoing Monday post!  I will post some more of my favorites and also give reviews on new tools that I pick up along the way.  For today I have my Fiskars Compact Stamp Press.

I picked this up a few months ago and I love it so much!  I highly recommend this to anyone who uses acrylic or unmounted rubber stamps.  I do not use it for all my stamping because some stamps are just fine on a  small block but I would say about 90% of my stamping is done using this press.  The easy to see grid helps to quickly arrange your stamps and get a great impression.  The press is light weight, easy to use and a must have for all stampers!  You can pick this press up at many different online stores and at Michaels or Hobby Lobby.  Here is a link to Simon Says Stamp where you can also purchase for a great price.  Please remember to leave a comment, follow my blog and share my blog with all your crafty friends!  Everyone who has left a comment this month on  My Favorite Tools will be entered to win a sweet giveaway!  Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you are all enjoying your day!   

Friday, March 22, 2013

Hello Adventure

Friday is here and I have so much to get done today!  I get to photograph a sweet 6 week old baby boy this morning and then I get to come home and pack for my oldest son because he is headed to Florida for spring break and then I need to rearrange my living room for 2 other photo shoots this weekend!  Well before I get that all done today I would like to share with you a gift bag I made for Memory Works Studio Challenge and for Heartstring Designs March Challenge.  The Challenge for Memory Works Studio is Going Green.  We had to re purpose, reuse and recycle!  For the Heartstring Designs March Challenge we had to make/decorate a gift sack and it had to have a chevron pattern anywhere on it and we had to use some sort of spray or mist.  I combined the two challenges and came up with this glassine gift sack.

The glassine bag came in my Tag Swap package from Jennifer so I decided to reuse it.   I ran it through my vagabond with a embossing folder from Stampin Up.  I used some papers and stickers from the Heartstring Designs March Housecalls Kit , Amy Tangerine Yes, Please 6x6 paper pad, Splash Spray from amuse studio and washi tape from Simon Says Stamp .  There is still time to link up your project over at Heartstring Designs for your chance to win a mystery box of prizes!! 

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Sending Hugs

Can you believe it is Thursday already?  This week has gone by so very fast!  Spring his finally here but it is still very cold here in Illinois!  Today I have a card to share with you using this weeks Deconstructed Sketch!  I have been trying to use more sketches lately when I am card making and this one really caught my attention. 


 
 
 
For my card I used papers from my March Simon Says Stamp card kit.  The papers are from Lawn Fawns new line Daphne's Closet.  I absolutely love this new line from Lawn Fawn.  Very sweet colors and fun patterns and they have a great border stamp set that I can not wait to get my hands   on!  Thanks for stopping by today and here is my card using this weeks Deconstructed Sketch #94

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Spring Time

I am so ready for warm weather how about you? I can not wait to get outside, soak up some sun and watch some baseball. Today I have a card to share and I decided to use some Hero Arts Shadow Inks in Soft Pool, Soft Blossom, and Soft Lilac. The colors remind me of Easter and spring time and I have not used these inks in such a long time I thought it was time to get them out! Has anyone been busy making Easter cards or Easter themed crafts? I would love to hear what you are all up to! Leave me a comment on this post about your Easter projects and I will enter your name into a drawing for a Jillibean Soup 6x6 paper pad and some Bella Blvd Designer Tape!

Monday, March 18, 2013

My Favorite Tools

I am back again to share another one of my favorite tools! Today I am sharing my Xyron machines! I absolutely love my Xyron machines! I started with the Xyron 1.5" create-a-sticker and was not sure if I would like it at first but of coarse I did and ended up purchasing the 5" create-a-sticker machine.


The smaller one sits on my desk at all times! I am constantly reaching for it and I get tons of use out of it. It is perfect for teeny tiny letters and itty bitty die cuts and works great on ribbon and twine! If you ever want to get your twine to stick to your card or layout run it through a xyron and it stays in place perfectly!!! You can pick these machine up everywhere! Walmart, Target, Michael's, and of coarse HSN where I purchased mine! I am a little obsessed with HSN and especially when it's National Craft Month! They have great specials and I can never pass up a great flex pay option! Thank you so much for stopping by today and do not forget to comment and share on Facebook about the giveaway for your chance to win!!  Winner will be announced on March 27th so make sure you comment on all of My Favorite Tools posts!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Happy St Patty's Day!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I hope you ladies remembered to wear your green today to avoid being pinched! I just have a quick card share for you tonight! A cute little St. Patty's Day card! I used some studio g stamps I found in the dollar bins at Joanne's, amuse studio card stock, American crafts ribbon, and some rock candy distress stickles! Enjoy!


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Closepin Tag Clipboards Swap

I am here to share with you what I received in the mail the other day from my swap partner Jennifer over at http://citygirlscrapper.blogspot.com/ We were in a swap hosted by Bona over at http://keeponscrappin.blogspot.com/.  We were to make two Closepin Tag Clipboards with any Prima line.  One tag was 4x8 and the other a #8 size tag.  We had to alter the closepin and include a charm on the closepin.  We also had to create a handmade flower for each clipboard and have 3 mini tags, 1 envelope, and one die cut per clipboard!  This swap was so much fun and I now have a new friend over at  http://citygirlscrapper.blogspot.com !  I can not wait for Jennifer to receive the package I sent her!!! So here are a few pictures of one of the clipboards!  Gorgeous!!!  Now this is only one of the tags!  I have one more tag to share and a few little extras that were in my package as well and I will be posting soon!  Enjoy!
 
 
 
 

Monday, March 11, 2013

My Favorite Tools

I am back with another Favorite Tool Monday!  I am a little late getting this post up today but I have been busy with two sick little ones!  They both fell asleep just a bit ago all snuggled together on the couch watching Wreck it Ralph!  Very sweet and of coarse I had to snap some photographs!  I will put them in a layout soon to share!  So onto another one of my favorite tools!  Today I am sharing the Epiphany Crafts Button Studio Tool Round 20 and the Shape Studio Tool Round 25!
 I love that I can create my own custom buttons with the Button Studio and make custom round epoxy embellishments with the Shape Tool!  I use these two tools a lot to make matching embellishments for all my projects!  If you have not used this tool before or have been on the fence about purchasing it I say go for it!!  You will not be disappointed!  Epiphany Crafts offers many more shapes like hearts, ovals, banners, stars, scalloped circles, the list goes on!! Check them out HERE !
And here is a video demo for you to check out!  Please remember to come back next Monday to see what my next favorite tool is and one lucky reader will win a sweet prize from me.   All you have to do is follow my blog, share on Facebook and comment on all my favorite tools!! I would also love to hear what your favorite tools are! I will announce a winner on March 27th!

 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Family

Finally Friday!!  I hope you are all having a fabulous Friday!  I wanted to share a layout I created earlier this week with one of our family photos taken in 2011.  I used The Good Life by Fancy Pants Designs to create this layout.  I love the colors and patterns in this line! 
 
I also added some Tim Holtz tissue tape, Pink Paislee mistables stickers, Amy Tangerine sticker, a camera wood veneer and some polka dot washi tape everything else is from The Good Life paper collection.  I hope you enjoyed my layout share and I hope you all get some time to create something beautiful this weekend!
 

Monday, March 4, 2013

My Favorite Tools

So what is your favorite crafting tool?  Every Monday this month I am going to share with you my favorite tools.  Some Mondays I will have more than one tool but for today I just have one to share.  This is a new tool for me and I love it!! 
It is the Envelope Punch Board from We R Memory Keepers.  You can easily create envelopes in dozens of sizes by simply selecting your envelope size, trim your paper once, and then follow the grid printed on the board to punch, score, rotate, and fold. The Envelope Punch Board includes a bone folder (stored conveniently on the Punch Board), measurement chart, and a corner rounding punch.  I love this tool for making matching envelopes for my cards and for using up pieces of scrap paper to make envelopes of all sizes to keep on hand!  I used this Envelope Punch Board to make envelopes for the mini card set for Heartstring Designs March Housecalls Kit Release.  Check the post out below!  This punch board gets 2 thumbs up from me and I hope you all get to try this new fun tool! Make sure you come back next Monday to see what my next favorite tool is and one lucky reader will win a sweet prize from me!  All you have to do is follow my blog, share on Facebook and comment on all my favorite tools!!  I would also love to hear what your favorite tools are!  I will announce a winner on March 27th! 

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Heartstring Designs March Kit Release Blog Hop-Day 2

Welcome to the second day of the Heartstring Designs March Housecalls kit-Sn@p That blog hop!  I hope you all had so much fun hopping yesterday!  Please remember to leave a comment on each blog along the way and follow each blog for you chance at winning your own March Housecalls Kit!  Also remember to like Heartstring Designs on Facebook and share this awesome blog hop on your facebook page for a chance at winning the February Heartstring Designs Housecalls Kit-Sweet Essence!  Now onto some more projects made from this super cute kit!  First up is a super cute banner I made to hang by my desk!

      
 
I love how this turned out!  This 12x12 sheet of paper is my favorite piece of paper in this kit!  Next up I have a two layouts to share with you!  The first on is a 8 1/2x11 layout and the other one is a 12x12 layout! 
 
This next layout I made for my best friend.  I photographed her kids this past fall so I thought I would include some of my favorite photos from the shoot and create a layout for her.  I hope she likes it:)
 
 
I have a few more cards to share with you and I made them 3x4 cards so they would fit inside the gift box that is included in this kit!  I also made envelopes with my We R Memory Keepers Envelope punch board!! I used everything from the kit for this except for 2 sheet of white printer paper to make envelopes with, a couple sentiment stamps and a small wooden stick I found on my desk.
And now a little bit of my project life album!  The Websters Pages card stock worked perfect in my album!
 
And for my final project I am ending with.... a mini album!  Mini albums are my favorite thing to create and I am so happy I was able to create two of them with this kit!!  The stamps I used in this mini are from my own stash.  Enjoy!
 Can you believe all the projects I was able to create with this kit!!  Oh and I am not finished yet!  I still have plenty of product left to work with!  These kits are jam packed with some of the finest products out there!  Click HERE to subscribe today to ensure that you will receive a kit every month!  Thank you all so much for stopping by today!  Please remember to comment and follow for your chance to win and like Heartstring Designs on Facebook HERE and do not forget to share our blog hop on your facebook page for a chance to win February's kit! Next up is MIDGE she has some amazing products to share with you!!

Here is the blog hop line up!
Heartstring Designs: http://www.heartstringdesigns.blogspot.com
Suzanne: http://www.zannieberry.blogspot.com
Jen: http://jentscrappysideofme.blogspot.com
Guest Designer: Erica http://ericarosecreates.blogspot.com
Midge: http://www.scrappintoxicmidge.blogspot.com
Guest Designer: Rhonda www.flowersbyrhonda.blogspot.com
Madge: http://www.thescrappinlounge.com
Britt: http://www.pinkpapercrowns.blogspot.com/
Jillian: http://www.paperalamode.com

Kit Contents:
1 12x12 Webster Pages: Allison Kreft; Color& Composition-Notes
1 12x12 Webster Pages:Allison Kreft; Color & Composition-Snapshots
1 small chevron pattern bag from Webster Pages
1 small clear bag
1 12x12 Echo Park Pattern Paper: Sisters Line-Sisters Chevron
1 12x12 American Crafts Pattern Paper: Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm; Wild Heart
1 12x12 American Crafts Pattern Paper: Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic; Little Moments
1 12x12 American Crafts Pattern Paper: Amy Tangerine Line;Yes Please-Remember
1 12x12 Pink Paislee Pattern Paper: Polaroid Line;Remarkable
2 12x12 Shrimp AC Cardstock
2 12x12 Concrete AC Cardstock
2 12x12 Seafoam AC Cardstock
1 small white gift box
Qty 5 wood Camera pieces from Studio Calico
1 yard of Canary Ribbon AC
1 Yard of Blush Ribbon AC
1 Yard of Butter Ribbon AC
1 box of Wood Tags from AC
1 Pack of Remarks from AC
1 sheet of Alpha stickers from Studio Calico
1 Bottle of Silver Screen Glitter from Advantus


Friday, March 1, 2013

Heartstring Designs March Kit-SN@P THAT!

Today is the big day!! March Housecalls Release Party! Sn@p That!!  Today I am so excited to be one of the Guest Designers for this March release!  The ladies at Heartstring Designs are so talented and I am honored to be a part of this team for March!   I have had so much fun with this kit!  We are going to have so much fun sharing all of our projects with you and you will get to see this amazing kit put to use in so many different ways!  Here is the Sn@p That kit!

Now this is a gorgeous kit!!  Imagine all the amazing things you could put together with this!!  Each month there are a limited amount of kits so subscribe today to ensure that you will receive a kit every month!  Click HERE to subscribe!  Here is the list of everything that is included in this months Housecalls kit:

1 12x12 Webster Pages: Allison Kreft; Color& Composition-Notes
1 12x12 Webster Pages:Allison Kreft; Color & Composition-Snapshots
1 small chevron pattern bag from Webster Pages
1 small clear bag
1 12x12 Echo Park Pattern Paper: Sisters Line-Sisters Chevron
1 12x12 American Crafts Pattern Paper: Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm; Wild Heart
1 12x12 American Crafts Pattern Paper: Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic; Little Moments
1 12x12 American Crafts Pattern Paper: Amy Tangerine Line;Yes Please-Remember
1 12x12 Pink Paislee Pattern Paper: Poloriod Line;Remarkable
2 12x12 Shrimp AC Cardstock
2 12x12 Concrete AC Cardstock
2 12x12 Seafoam AC Cardstock
1 small white gift box
Qty 5 wood Camera pieces from Studio Calico
1 yard of Canary Ribbon AC
1 Yard of Blush Ribbon AC
1 Yard of Butter Ribbon AC
1 box of Wood Tags from AC
1 Pack of Remarks from AC
1 sheet of Alpha stickers from Studio Calico
1 Bottle of Silver Screen Glitter from Advantus

Now do not forget to come back tomorrow for more blog hopping and more fun!  Heartstring Designs will be giving one lucky blog hopper the March Housecalls Sn@p That kit!!  All you have to do is follow the blogs on this hop and comment on each one BOTH days!  Simple!! Also there will be a  February Kit giveaway to one lucky person who likes and posts about our fabulous blog hop.  Here is the event link for Facebook HERE  If you are following the blog hop you should have arrived from Jen over at http://jentscrappysideofme.blogspot.com She did an amzing job with this kit!  Make sure you remember to leave her some love and follow her blog.

Now time for my projects!  I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them!!  First up is an Easter gift card holder!  I always stick itunes cards in the Easter baskets for my kids and this small clear bag that is included in the kit is perfect for gift cards and I thought the sentiment was perfect for this blog hop!  I used everything from the kit to make this except for the stamp. 

 


Next up is a layout of our daughter ms alyssa danielle.  I cut out some stars with my cricut imagine, used some teal color shine a couple date stampers and a couple pieces of washi tape from my stash and everything else is from the kit! 


I had so much fun creating layouts!  Here is another layout I created with this amazing kit!  I pulled a doily from my stash and put some splatters of color wash onto the layout and used my stapler to add some staples in a few spots and everything else cam from the kit!  Some of the papers from the kit I used to cut out some flowers with my vagabond too! 

 
 
This card was a simple and quick card to make!  I think it took me about 10 minutes to create. 
 
  Now for my final project of the day... I have a teeny tiny mini to share with you.  I had so much fun making this mini!  I made the mini using one piece of 12x12 Concrete card stock that came in the kit and that gave me the cutest 3x3 mini album.  I then embellished this mini with everything in the kit except for a couple pieces of colored jute and a few strips of washi tape.  This mini is small but it has 5 different pockets for tags and more photos!  Enjoy!




 





Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave a comment and follow my blog as well as the others along the way for your chance to win!  Up next is MIDGE!


Here is the blog hop line up!
Heartstring Designs: http://www.heartstringdesigns.blogspot.com
Suzanne: http://www.zannieberry.blogspot.com
Jen: http://jentscrappysideofme.blogspot.com
Guest Designer: Erica http://ericarosecreates.blogspot.com
Midge: http://www.scrappintoxicmidge.blogspot.com
Guest Designer: Rhonda www.flowersbyrhonda.blogspot.com
Madge: http://www.thescrappinlounge.com
Britt: http://www.pinkpapercrowns.blogspot.com/
Jillian: http://www.paperalamode.com