Thursday, June 30, 2011

Calendar Challenge - May/June

Both my friend and I totally forgot about our calendar challenge at the end of May, so we decided to combine the two months at the end of June.  Above is my quilts block calendar page for May -- and below is the one for June (click image for a closer view).
I did a sailboat iris folding on June's- really like how it turned out.  If you've never done iris folding before - here's a link to get you started  - there's lots of free patterns on the side bar, including this sailboat one!
Here's the May CD case calendar
And the one for June:
Stamp sets used: Utopiary - Coastal (Inkadinkado)
The CD case calendar ones look washed out on here -- but I didn't have time to take new pics -- and even so my camera cord is on the blink so I couldn't have uploaded them.  
Now go here to see what my friend created for the May/June Calendar Challenge

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Scripture Cards and Circle Flowers

Giveaway going on till June 27th - click here
Some more Scripture cards for you using the Scripture Word art from Dee's Bugaboo Boutique The rest of the supplies were scraps from my scrap bin, a few rhinestones, and crayola markers.  
Oh, and I can't forget about the flower --- another invention of my 8 year old (she's on a roll!).  She used my circle paper punch to it out, cut little lines in it, added a smaller circle to the center and free hand cut the leaves.  I thought it was a cute and easy flower and used it on all three Scripture cards.
Here's a closer view of that circle flower - I embossed mine with the textile embossing folder and lightly inked over it.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Creative Die Cuts Card

Giveaway going on till June 27th - Click Here
Another Paper Crafts Magazine inspired card.  This time from the Creative Die Cuts section.  I based it on Tanis Giesbrecht's "On my Mind" card (pg. 65).  Plain and Simple, but I like it!
Supplies used:
  • Butterfly Die cut (Provo Craft)
    • The butterfly is cut from the brown craft paper and a pattern piece of paper adhered behind 
  • Misc. Paper Scraps
  • Find Joy stamp (Creative Stamping Kit)
  • Black Stazon Ink
  • Small Butterfly punch
  • Felt tip pen
    • faux stitching around sentiment
  • Corner rounder  

This post linked to:
Creative Princess - It's a Party

    Monday, June 20, 2011

    Simple Felt Flower Cards

    Giveaway going on till June 27th - click here
    This set of three cards was Paper Crafts Magazine inspired. They had a "Fabulous Felt" feature on the Paper Crafts 101 page. (pg30 of July/August 2011).  I decided to cut some felt flowers using my Nestabilities sets. The newsprint flower in the center of each was made by my 8 year old.  She made this card with one........
    ...and when I saw it and liked her flower she made me up some to use.  Simply: 4 circles punched from a dictionary, crumpled, and a button glued in the center......
    .....I thought they added pizazz to the center of my felt flowers.

    Supplies used on these "Fabulous Felt" cards include:
    • Nestabiblities
      • Blossom
      • Blossom II
      • Dot Circle (Nellie's Choice)
        • I got this one at the Allentown Paper Crafts Festival
    •  Felt
      • blue/purple/pink/green
    •  Rhinestones
    • Dictionary page
    • Buttons
    • Colored Pencils
    • Scripture Word Art from Paper Craft Memories 
    This post linked to:
    Made With Love Monday
    More the Merrier
    Creative Princess - It's a Party

      Friday, June 17, 2011

      Honey Chicken Wings

      I had totally forgot about this recipe till just last week....it's something my sister and I used to make when we lived at home (over 12 years ago).   Haven't made it in years, but I'm pretty sure it won't be long till I make them again. Everyone in our little family loved them!
       Honey Wings
      3 lbs. wings
      Salt
      Pepper
      1/2 c. soy sauce
      2 T. catsup
      1 clover garlic, mashed
      2 T. vegetable oil
      1 c. honey
      Place wings in a greased  9 x 12 shallow pan or cookie sheet. Sprinkle wings with salt and pepper.  Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over wings.  Bake 50 minutes at 375 degrees.  Keep turning and basting wings in oven.  
      Note: I didn't have the fresh garlic on hand so I used a little garlic powder.  They still tasted just as good as I'd remembered them tasting!
      Bonus: Banana Cupcakes
      As an added bonus this week I'm linking to these Amazing Banana Cupcakes with Swiss Butter cream icing. You've never had an icing more fluffy and soft than this, and the cupcakes are so moist and delicious.  Click here for the recipe -- you won't be sorry!!!
      This post linked to:
      Fun With Food Friday
      Cast Party Wednesday 
      Craft Catwalk

      Thursday, June 16, 2011

      Bible Verse Challenge Card

      This card is for the  Bible Verse Challenge over at Christian Paper Crafts Creative Blog. The challenge was to create a card that reflects stillness and peace.  I chose the above verse because peace for me is "casting my care upon Him" and knowing He cares about me, knows just what I'm going through, and has everything under control.
      Supplies used:
      • Scripture Word Art from Paper Craft Memories
      • Colored Pencils
        • to highlight a few words
      • Green Polka Dotted Ribbon
      • Heart Lace
      • Scallop Daisy Border Punch (Fiskars)
      • Circle Paper Punch and quilling tool
        • to make that rolled rose - there's a tutorial link on the sidebar - "Mini Rolled Roses"
      • Scoring Board (Martha Stewart)
        • lines at the top of the card
      I made another one in browns to match this one.....
      This post linked to:
      Bible Verse Thursday

      Simply Stamped Cards

      These cards were so simple and easy to do, and yet I really like how they turned out.  I ended up making 2 of each color equaling 6 cards in 1 hour.  Another reminder that sometimes "less is more."
      Supplies:
      • Stamps
        • Pattern Trio (Stampendous)
        • Collaged Expressions (Inkadinkado)
        • Flora Grande 2 (Heartfelt Expressions)
        • Borders
      • Inks
        • Green/Blue/Purple
      • Glitter
      • Leaf Punch (Martha Stewart)
      • Green/Blue/Purple cardstock
      This post linked to:
      Strut Your Stuff
      Thrilling Thursday
      It's a Party

      Wednesday, June 15, 2011

      Wedding Gift

      I am SO EXCITED about this wedding gift because it looks like it cost A LOT more than it did.  This was one time when it paid to wait till the last minute (i.e. the day before) to shop for a gift because Bath and Body Works was having HUGE sales on their stuff.....starting the day I went!  Their sales coupled with my coupon made for a really nice gift.  The girl for whom this was for is part of a family that has been more than giving to our family, and the last thing I'd want to appear is cheap in my gift to her.  To be honest I didn't know what to get her (being that I waited till the last minute and her wedding registries were very picked over), but then I hit upon the idea of a basket of Bath and Body Works stuff and I'm so very happy I thought of it!
      Here's what the basket includes:
      This candle holder and candle 
      Ladies lotion and body wash
      Two men's body wash items
      A Wallflower plug-in -- I got one of these for Christmas last year and I love it!
      Pure Vanilla Foaming Hand Soap
      That's not all I got on sale-- the basket was 40% off at Michael's and I used a coupon on the Shredded pink paper.
      The total value for this gift is $ 97.98
      I paid a little over 1/3 of that price for the entire gift!
      I love giving nice gifts to people and especially love it when I can make one up at a huge savings!
      Here's the card I made to go along with the gift
      I actually used a decorative folder for the front of this card instead of cardstock. It was just the pattern and colors I wanted and it worked out well.
      Inside looks like this
      I cut that huge rose off the back of the folder and glittered it up with transparent embossing powder. 
      Oh and one more thing --- the flower on the handle of the basket is another Flora Grande creation made using silver embossing powder, pink chalks, pink marker, and pink micro beads.  (See I told you I was addicted to that stamp set!)
      This post linked to:
      Whatever You Want Wednesday
      Penny Pinching

      Monday, June 13, 2011

      Flora Grande Stamping

      Let's just say that my current favorite stamp set is Flora Grande 2 from Heartfelt Creations.  I love most all of their stuff, and I've gotten a LOT of mileage out of my 2 newest purchases (from the Allentown Rubber Stamp Convention earlier this year) --- the..... 1. Flora Grande 2 and 2. Posy Patch Flowers. 
      Sharing three cards today that I used the flora grande set on - love the size and shape of this flower.
      For card #1 I used these supplies:
      • Stamps
        • Flora Grande 2 (Heartfelt Creations)
        • Martha Stewart leaf stamp
      • Punches
        • Threading Water Border Punch (Fiskars) 
        • Scalloped Daisy Border Punch (Fiskars)
        • Small Butterfly Punch
      • Cuttlebug Items
        • Butterfly Die (Provo Craft)
        • Butterfly Embossing Folder (Provo Craft)
        • Swirls Embossing Folder (Provo Craft)
        • Textile Embossing Folder (Provo Craft)
      • Inks
        • Versa Mark
      • White Embossing Powder
      • Pink/Green Chalks
      • Pink Glitter
      • Pink/White Cardstock
       For this card I stamped my flower image on vellum, colored the back with markers, and cut it out --- lots of dimension to this as the petals curl and twist about. 
      For card #2 I used these supplies:
      • Stamps
        • Flora Grande 2 (Heartfelt Creations)
        • Martha Stewart leaf stamp
      • Punches
        • Small Butterfly punch
        • Martha Stewart corner punch: Embroidered
        • Alphabet Punches
      • Cuttlebug Items
        • Kassie's Brocade embossing folder (Provo Craft)
      • Silver Embossing Powder
      • Ultra Fine Silver Glitter
      • Crayola Markers
      • Silver/Yellow/White Cardstock
       One last card using that flower stamp set --- a personalized wedding card.
      Supplies used on card #3:
      • Stamps
        • Flora Grande 2 (Heartfelt Creations)
        • Martha Stewart leaf stamp
        • Love border stamps
      • Punches
        • Small Butterfly punch
        • Martha Stewart corner punch: Embroidered
        • Alphabet Punches
      •  Inks
        • Versa Mark
        • Blue/Green Chalks (flowers/leaves)
        • Blue Ink (for border stamps)
      • Blue Embossing Powder
      • Blue/White Cardstock
      • Yellow DP from K & Company
      • Micro Beads (in the center of the flower)
      Love the dimension the beads add to the flower -- almost looks real!
      This post linked to:
      Craft Catwalk
      More the Merrier
      Whatever You Want Wednesday 

      Saturday, June 11, 2011

      Cornmeal Muffins

      I have looked for and tested several recipes before finding a cornmeal muffin that tasted just right to me.  After altering a recent recipe from the Southern Lady magazine I finally found what I was looking for....sorta sweet, not too crumbly, moist cornmeal muffins!  Here's my recipe:
      Cornmeal Muffins
      2 cups flour
      2/3 cup cornmeal
      1/4 cup sugar
      1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
      1/2 teaspoon salt
      1/4 teaspoon baking soda
      1/2 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
      1/2 cup sour cream
      1 1/2 cups milk
      Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease each cup of a 12 cup muffin pan with softened butter.
      In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients and cut in 1/2 cup cold butter with a pastry blender till mixture is crumbly.  Add sour cream and milk - mix well.  Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for 30 minutes. 
      I top mine with butter and blackberry jam -- YUM!
      Enjoy!

      Thursday, June 9, 2011

      Father's Day Shirt

      A couple years ago I visited a Michael's in PA and they were handing out these coloring pages for kids before Father's Day.  We didn't color them, but I saved them to use as templates.  Just last week I spring cleaned and reorganized my craft room and found them.  Thought they would make cute Father's Day cards --- I used one coloring page for the card template and then cut out the individual pieces (tie/collar/pockets) of the other one and traced them on white cardstock. I used a ruler to draw the stripes on the tie and then colored them with my Crayola markers.  Stamped "Happy Father's Day" on the front and wa-la and cute and easy card.
      Here's one I did in reverse of the above - with green as the main color
      This post linked to:
      Thrilling Thursday
      Strut Your Stuff

      Wednesday, June 8, 2011

      Father's Day Cards

      I used two images from the Graphics Fairy  (found in The Sea gallery) to make some Father's Day cards for this year.  Really didn't do much to them except mat them on colored card-stock and attach them to card fronts.  I also tied a few figure 8 knots to embellish them -- tutorial here.  For the sailing one I tore the edges of the picture/mats and used a diamond border punch (Fiskars) on the edge of the card.

      On the fish card I popped up a few of the fish for added dimension. 
      (No, the fish aren't colored properly --- brown an d green were just too boring for me so I "splashed" some color on them!)
      This post linked to:
      Strut Your Stuff
      Graphics Fairy - Brag Monday

      Monday, June 6, 2011

      Summer Sunshine

      A friend of mine ask me to make her a card for her nephew whose retiring from the ministry.  I thought a blue and yellow.....summery approach would be fun and came up with the above card.
      Supplies used:
      • Stamps
        • Flora Grande 2 Heartfelt Creations
        • Martha Stewart Leaf
        • Love Border (Inkakindadoo - I think)
      • Punches
        • Martha Stewart corner punch
        • Threading Water border punch (Fiskars)
      • Inks
        • Blue/Green Chalks (edges of flower and leaves)
        • Versa Mark
        • Green/Blue ink
      • Blue Embossing Powder (flowers)
      • Yellow Glitter (flower center)
      • Kassie's Brocade embossing folder (Provo Craft)
      • Strip of Vintage Lace (behind flower)
      I stamped a single floral image on the envelope so it would match the card....I chalked the edges and colored the center yellow with a Crayola marker.
      I liked this style so much that I decided to make a wedding card for a friend in the same design -- just used different colors...
      Once again I stamped the envelope to match
      I have a feeling I'll be using this again as I really like the way these turned out.
      This post linked to:
      Craft Catwalk
      Made With Love Monday
      Making Monday Marvelous  
      Thrilling Thursday 
      Whatever You Want Wednesday 

      Thursday, June 2, 2011

      Fabric Flowers

      Here are two fabric flowers I made recently to be used as wardrobe accessories.  They were super simple to make -- just gathered my fabric strip and then twisted it around (like in this tutorial). I didn't sew mine though -- I just rolled it and hot glued it to a piece of fabric.  It's a good way to use up some of those fabric scraps you have leftover after a bigger project - and add a bit of "pizazz" to your wardrobe!
      This post linked to:
      Strut Your Stuff
      Thrilling Thursday 
      Whatever You Want Wednesday