Thursday, March 31, 2011

a true friend remembers. . .

Hello, hello! Long time no see! (Well, it's been a long time since I've seen this blog anyway!)
This card features the Treetops stamp set from Close To My Heart, along with sentiments from Card Chatter - Birthdays (you can find the links to these, on my mom's blog!)

And here's the inside.

I used more of my giant stash of baker's twine, from Wesell Coffee, which I am loving!!! I just got twine from The Twinery today too. . .the colors are AMAZING, and I can't wait to dive in!

I've been enjoying Spring Break with my little man home all week.  The weather hasn't quite cooperated with some of our plans, but we've had a good time anyway!!! Back to ol' routine on Monday! (But it will be sort of nice!)

I hope  you have a TERRIFIC weekend! I'll be back tomorrow. . .APRIL FIRST (ack! April!?) with the ADORABLE (seriously ADORABLE) new release from The {Stamps} of Life!
See you then!
XOXO

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

wedding invitations from Discount Cardstock!

I've been busy creating some wedding samples, showing off Discount Cardstock's variety of cardstock products! 
 This first one features product from the March Posh Papers kit.  (The yellow is Sunflowers Light Prismatic - it is so buttery and gorgeous!) I also used the silver metallic vellum.  It's been a while since I used vellum - it's so pretty!!!!
I got both box templates from Mirkwood Designs - it's a great website to find printable templates.  Just print them out on the backside of your cardstock and cut them out!

This invitation set features dotted swiss cardstock, and is perfect for a December wedding! Today is feeling like Friday . . . tomorrow Mr. B has a field trip, and my parents are coming for a quick visit tomorrow too! And then it's the start of SPRING BREAK! A whole week to figure out how to entertain the Kindergarten kid!  Have a terrific day! XOXO

Supplies:
cardstock - Discount Cardstock (Ivory, Cloverleaf Triokraft)
twine - Discount Cardstock (November 2010 or March 2011 Posh Paper Kits)

paper poinsettias with brad centers - Close To My Heart
favor template - Mirkwood Designs Tiny Cube

Saturday, March 19, 2011

from clean and pretty, to clean and cute!

Yesterday's post was all about clean laundry. . .today is all about a clean and simple card. (Phew, back to the CRAFTY business, is that what I hear you saying? Enough laundry, for goodness sake!)

I have had THE best time playing with the Echo Park "Little Boy" paper and stickers that I recently got.  Oooh, it is such fun to have NEW stuff to play with!!! I used my alphabet stamps from CTMH to STICK together this super-super-super simple card.  But really, when you have a yellow polka-dotty car, do you really need anything else?

I used Intense Yellow Prismatic cardstock, and Salt Dotted Swiss cardstock - both from Discount Cardstock, along with my cutie-patootie sticker.

Today the fam and I  hopped in my not-so-cutie-patootie car, and went cruisin' some neighborhood yard sales.  We scored a pretty stinkin' cool desk for Mr. B. . . .for THREE DOLLARS!!!!! WooHOOO!

I hope your weekend is BEAUTIFUL! It is definitely warm and springy here! I think the high is 86. . .WHAT!? (That sounds more like summer to me! UGH!)

XOXO

Friday, March 18, 2011

clean and pretty!


Remember when I told you how I had just received my free bottle of Purex with Zout?  I've been using it for a few days now, and I really like it!  Tanner had spaghetti sauce on his shirt, that I had washed a few times and could NOT get the sauce off.  But I poured a little Purex with Zout on, let it sit for a few minutes and then washed it again - and IT WORKED!!! Hooray! No need for an extra product!  (And it works great with the Purex Crystals too!)

If you visit www.freesamplepurex.com you can get a sample for yourself to try it out! (See Mom, you don't even have to be on Facebook to get the deal! wink wink!)

If you try it out, let me know how you like it!  I'd love to share your thoughts with Purex!
Have a great weekend!!!!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Oh my goodness! Bad me!

Wednesday already!? Good grief! How could I have forgotten!!!!? The days flew by, and I never popped in to announce the two winners of the FREE Purex!  (And of course, I have a card to share!)

The card first - this card was made using the March Posh Papers kit from Discount Cardstock.  I am LOVING gray lately.  I totally made the sentiment flag(?) banner(?) whatever it is, just out of a strip of cardstock.  I cut it into three pieces, cut the triangles from the two sides, and rounded the edges just slightly.  Then I adhered the sentiment section on foam tape. EASY. PEASY.

Okay, so the winners of the Purex coupons  . . . .

 Sarah Sowers said...

HI Laura! I would love free detergent! I use spray and wash on the girls clothes now and it works great. I was using the OxiClean spray and it worked well I thought too. I'll have to try Zout! and Purex Crystals.
Talk to you later
and

Carrie said...

We seem to have given our next door neighbor the impression that we do laundry 24/7. Our dryer vent points her direction and one summer when she was spending alot of time gardening she pointed out that our dryer was going all the time. I don't think we do that much but I am a bit of a clean freak! With 2 cats, 1 dog, 1 8 yr old, my mother living with us, and my brother and neice here visiting all summer it probably is running most of the time.
March 12, 2011 10:09 AM

Hooray!!! Congrats girlies! Sarah, I know how to get in touch with you, but Carrie, please email me at TomatoL at aol dot com, so I can get your contact info.  I am waiting on the coupons to arrive from Purex, and then I will pass them along to you girls!!!! 
Have a great day!!!!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

seriously people?

Okay, REALLY? I know I don't have a million blog readers . . . but I also know I have more than FIVE.  And there must be more than five people who read this blog, that do laundry.  Yes, I'm talking to YOU.  Why would you NOT want a coupon for free laundry detergent?  Go leave a comment on the post below, and while you're there, click on the link to Purex to learn about Purex Complete Crystals Softener.

And you just might win something for FREE!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

What? No card?!


It's rare that I'm here without a card (or a cake) to share, but today I have something totally different to ramble on about!  CLEANING!!! (And if you know me in real life, you know I LOVE to clean! (Well, not always the day to day cleaning, but I love to do WEIRD cleaning, like baseboards, and grout.)
And I also love FREE STUFF.  Oh - and I love to SHARE too.  So are you ready to hear about CLEAN laundry, FREE stuff, and something for YOU?!

I recently became part of a group called the Purex Insiders.  And they send me FREE STUFF!!!! (And it rocks!)  I've used a LOT of Purex laundry detergent in my life, and they have some cool new products that I have been able to try out.  The first is the Purex Crystals Softener.  They are crystals, and you just throw them right in the washing machine, along with your detergent.

And oh my gosh - for WEEKS, my clothes have stayed smelling fresh and wonderful!!!!  You can read all about Purex Crystals HERE  and you can also find a link to a COUPON!!! (Run, my coupon mamas, RUN!)



And today, I got something else new in the mail from Purex.  Purex Complete With Zout.  Have you ever used Zout? It's like Shout,  . . . but in my humble opinion, way better! It was the only thing I could pretreat with to get all of Bryce's messy baby stains out with.  And now, Purex and Zout have joined forces - pretreater, and detergent ALL IN ONE.  We can save ourselves a step! Sweet!!!  I haven't tried this yet, but I will, on my next load of laundry!  And because Purex rocks, they are generously sharing TWO coupons with me, to share with YOU!!!!

 Leave a comment on this post, and tell me something interesting about you and laundry. . . .like, what your favorite laundry detergent is, or how often you do laundry.  And I will draw TWO winners, on Monday, for a free bottle of Purex Complete with Zout!  (And it's not like I have a million blog readers, so you should have a pretty good chance! And who can't use FREE detergent!?)  

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

peas love happiness. . .and cake.

Hi, my name is Laura and I have a sugar addiction.  I feel like all of my posts have been about CAKE lately.  But today, I am balancing it out with some healthy (and adorable) vegetables. 
I have a giant cupcake in the oven right now - using this adorable GIANT cupcake pan.  I had to get a bit creative, because as I put in the 2nd of 3 eggs, I realized. . .I had no more eggs.  But thanks to Google, I found out that bananas can be a decent substitute for eggs in a cake.  Who knew!? So, my giant chocolate cupcake has become a giant chocolate-banana cupcake, and I think it is actually going to be QUITE delish. Hooray!!!! (It can't hurt that I doctored it up with sour cream and pudding mix - also two amazing additions to boxed cake mix!)


Okay - now that I have educated you about cakes, let's talk VEGGIES.  I rarely go out and buy a new stamp set.  Seriously, hardly ever.  I have what I get from my lovely Close To My Heart consultant (AKA, my mama!) or what I get for an assignment, or CPS sponsorship, and that is IT.  Crafty supplies are rarely in the budget.  BUT when Kim Hughes opened up her new stamp company, Paper Smooches, I knew I was in serious trouble!!!!!  And when I saw the new vegetable stamp set - it HAD to be mine!!!! (I have a big collection of tomatoes, so I HAD to have that smiley tomato - but that's a story for another day.) 
The stamps came in the mail yesterday, and as soon as I got the boys in bed, I got to work!!!! Here is the first card I created!  I used darling Echo Park paper (Life Is Good) and the cutie-patootie peas, (which I paper-pieced of course!)

And now, HOPEFULLY the cake is ready to come out of the oven! (All those extra ingredients are causing it to take FOREVER to bake!) I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday! XOXO

Saturday, March 5, 2011

what the heck . . .a little more cake

More cake.  I just couldn't help myself!!!  This delicious little yellow cake is covered in Lemon Flower Soft.  And pearls.  Yummm. (Well, maybe not truly delicious, but fairly adorable at least!)

I am feeling blog anxiety once again.  Trying to find some balance in my life (again), and figure out what I should spend my time on, and what I should let go of.  I can't totally let go of my blog, because I have responsibilities and commitments to post certain projects regularly.  But I am letting go of the anxiety of not posting as often as I would like.  And I am letting go of the expectations and hopes that my blog would become something that it just isn't.

So that's that.  I'll probably be here once a week or so.  And then again, maybe more.  Who knows.  All I'm saying is that I am letting go of feeling guilty when it's been a week without a post.

So go eat some cake, and stop stressing out.  That's what I'd like to do.  :)
Tomorrow I am making a birthday cake for a special friend of our family.  I'm not sure yet WHAT exactly it's going to be. . .chocolate.  But what pan to use, and what exactly to create. . . .I am not yet sure! I'll letcha know if it turns out fabulous!!! :)

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

March first means CAKE!!!

I am so excited to finally be able to share the new stamp set being released at The {Stamps} of Life today!!! It's CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! And adorable cake, too! I love this set. I have had so much fun coming up with different ways to embellish these cakes. I have a whole list of ways I still want to decorate them! Here are two cards to help you start drooling over this set!

On this first card, I used SEI's "With All My Heart" patterned papers. They have a shimmer to them, which makes the cake look extra fancy in real life :) I stamped the cake layers on the BACK of my patterned paper, so that I wouldn't have any lines showing. I thought they would be distracting for the look I was going for. I love the way it turned out!

On the second card, I used blue cardstock and a scalloped strip from SEI's new Corrine collection. I popped the cake up on foam tape for some added dimension and added a few little pearls and ribbon to the card to finish it off.

These two cakes are very "wedding-y" (Yes, it's a word. I say so.) But the great thing about this stamp set, is that this could VERY easily be a birthday cake, done in bright crazy colors, or a big fat chocolate cake done in gorgeous shades of brown. I know I always say, "The possibilities are endless," but seriously people - they ARE.

And really, the only important thing about this stamp set, and the number one reason you NEED it. . . .it's CAKE.
Enough said.
(And if I haven't convinced you, go watch Stephanie's video, on the TSOL blog!)
;)

(card goodies: stamps - The {Stamps} of Life, patterned paper, blue cardstock - SEI, pink ribbon - Papertrey Ink, white ribbon -JoAnn Essentials, white and pink cardstocks - Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White, Iced Pink Prismatic) ink, pearls - Close To My Heart)