a little more Momenta before the month is out!

Generally when I craft, I don't have an ENTIRE collection of something in front of me to pull from.  It's a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and I make it come together.  And I love that. . . . but  it's also REALLY FUN to have a whole assortment of coordinating paper, stickers, alphabets, and embellishments from the same collection.  It makes card-making pretty stinkin easy too! (LOVE!) 

The Momenta goodies that I received for this month's CPS sponsorship have made a lot of quick fun cards so far this month, so before the month is gone, I thought I'd share a few more.  Remember, you still have time to participate in this week's CPS sketch! A winner will be drawn at the end of the month for a Momenta prize pack! 

(on this card, I used an SRM birthday sticker along with my Momenta goodies! )

I have two more weeks until my almost-second-grader is home for the summer.  So I am scrambling around here trying to get everything done that I want to accomplish before then! (Like cleaning out his closet one more time, before he's here to see what I'm chucking!) Plus my bucket of past-loved stamps and supplies that I'd like to sell is OVERFLOWING. Must get that started.  And then there's dress shopping for my brother-in-law's beach wedding in the Hamptons.  I definitely do NOT want to drag a 7 and a 2 year old around for THAT task!  

I hope that your Memorial Day weekend is lovely! I think we're going to head to the beach sometime this weekend! It's been crazy hot this week. . . summer is definitely upon us in Florida! 

Thanks for popping in today, hugs!!

xoxo

winner winner chicken dinner!

Yesterday got away from me, and I didn't post my Bazzill Card Shoppe winner!!!!

I had my little man draw a number and he picked number FOUR . . . .which happens to be Sara M!

Hooray Sara!!!! :)

And I didn't want to leave you without a card, so here is my CPS card for the week.  Remember, this whole month is sponsored by Momenta.  A winner will be drawn from all the CPS participants for the month, and a lucky winner will receive a fabulous Momenta prize package! 

Amazing how so many people chimed in after my little rant yesterday . . .

maybe I should get sassy more often? ;)

Giggle giggle!

xoxo

watch out . . .i'm grouchy! :)

One more reminder about the Bazzill Card Shoppe giveaway! Last call. . .I'll draw a winner around noon EST today. This is GREAT cardstock - I know there are more than four people reading my blog. 

 So, um - REALLY? You don't want something FREE? (Helllo?) 

I'm feeling a little snarky and grouchy today, so I'll work hard to bite my tongue. . . .

but really, I'm wondering why I BOTHER sometimes. 

(Thanks to the four or five of you though, who talk to me regularly!) 

Hoping to sweeten up my morning with these bright cheery popsicles from the patterns4pops set at TSOL!  I love how this "pattern" for the pops has an almost photographic feel to it.  It's very cool.

I'm working on some top-secret magazine work right now, but I hope to be back with more new projects to share soon. (Maybe. Unless I keep feeling snarky and grouchy, and decide to hide all my projects from you.)

xoxo

ACOT Father's Day ensemble tutorial

The following is a tutorial that I shared at A Cherry On Top.  It's great for Father's Day, but you could easily make it for a birthday or graduation too.  The layout is SO simple, and easy to tailor to whatever product you have on hand! I hope you like it! 

And don't forget. . . I have a bright and cheery new package of Bazzill Card Shoppe cardstock to giveaway, so be sure to also read the previous post! You guys are crazy not to throw your name in! 

Today I'd love to share a little gift ensemble that I created, featuring a gift bag, a pennant, and a card.  It's perfect for Father's Day, but it would work well for a masculine birthday, or even a graduation gift.  

Let's start with the gift bag.   Either pick up a solid gift bag from the store, or do what I did - recycle a shopping bag. (Or recycle a gift bag given to YOU!) 

Trim strips of patterned paper, in assorted widths, as shown in the photo below.  (I chose the most neutral newsprint to be the widest, because it will have the sentiment stickers attached.)

 Then, trim a piece of dark cardstock, slightly wider than your strips, for matting.  Lay the strips out and play with order until you arrange it how you like it.

 After adhering strips to the matting, affix stickers (I chose a sentiment and a really cool globe from the Echo Park stickers.)

 Now that you've done the bag, the card will be a cinch. . .. it's the exact same process. Cut strips of patterned paper, dark cardstock matting, and adhere it to your card.

 I wanted a dark brown matting on my sticker sentiment, so I stuck it down on a scrap of cardstock, trimmed around it, and then attached it to my card with foam tape.

  Here's a closeup of the finished card!

Okay, onward to the pennant.  I love the way this looks sticking out of the gift bag! I'm showing you a sample created on white cardstock, so it's easier for you to see what I'm doing.

First, start with a square or rectangle of cardstock.  Mine was 5.5x6 inches, but you can make pennants in any size you want!  First, fold in half, just to crease the very edge (I did this on the 5.5in side.)  Make a small mark.

Next, line up your paper along the cutting edge of your trimmer, with your mark at one end, and the corner of your paper at the other end.  I drew lines all the way, for clarity sake, but you don't have to. After you cut one side, go back to the top where you made your mark, and cut all the way down to the other bottom corner.  Are ya with me so far? ;)

 This is what you'll be left with.  One perfect pennant!

You'll use this same process to create your pennant.  I created mine from dark brown cardstock, to coordinate with the rest of my ensemble. Then I created a just slightly smaller pennant from patterned paper, to coordinate with the matting on my other projects. Embellish your pennant with stickers, and patterned paper however you'd like! 

There are a number of ways you can attach your pennant to a thin dowel - I chose the easiest way I could figure. . . .HOT GLUE! (You could also punch a hole in the top and bottom, and feed the stick through.)

Handmade Popsicle Cards with Delicious Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock

Hello, hello!

Today I'd like to show you two fun cards I created with this month's special releases at The {Stamps} of Life.  The alphabet set and the patterns4pops set were the mid-month releases, and (obviously) the patterns4pops pairs with the pops2eat set from the 1st of the month.  

The cardstock I used on these cards is from Bazzill Card Shoppe.

I LOVE the colors - their names are darling, and the colors are beautiful! Lots of bright cheeriness, just what I love! The card stock is a HEAVY 100# weight.  I highly recommend using a scoring tool to fold cards with this cardstock.  

I think Juicy Pear is one of my favorite colors in this pack. If you know me, you know I ALWAYS go for green and aqua. (Robin's Egg is a GORGEOUS aqua, just so you know!)

On this second card, I used Circus Peanuts and Sour Lemon.  (See, I told you the colors have great names!!!)  Below you can see a chart of all of them.  I'm happy to report that A Cherry On Top sells Bazzill's Card Shoppe in individual sheets, and I am not exactly sure who sells the multi-pack, but if you find it, let me know! :) Bazzill graciously provided me with a multi-pack to try out. . . .but guess what!? They provided me with an EXTRA multi-pack to share with one of YOU!!!! 

Please leave a comment and tell me which of these colors is your favorite, and I will draw a random winner on Saturday morning, May 19th.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! My poor little blog has been a bit lonely lately. . .you and I BOTH need to spend more time here! ;) Have a terrific end of the week. It's all downhill from here!

A Little of This and That

Pattern2Love, oh pattern2love. . .how I LOVE you, I do!

Pattern2Love is the newest background stamp from The {Stamps} of Life, which was released last month. (Have I mentioned I really LOVE this stamp!?) It's big - big enough to fill almost a whole card front (5.25x3.75 inches if you want to be exact.)

On this first card, I embossed the pattern in white, onto this lovely PopTone cardstock card.

 And on this card, I stamped the pattern in three colors and assembled them together. This is a great masculine color scheme. . .I sort of love it!

And now that I've shared some cards, I have a little more non-crafty items to share.  It feels a little awkward to keep peppering posts about laundry and coupons. . .but I'm just going to keep on doing it, if you'll bear with me!  Because just like we all do laundry, most of us eat cereal too.

Post Honey Bunches of Oats provided me with a box of their cereal, to try out because they have added MORE GRANOLA BUNCHES! :)  I have to tell you, this has always been one of my favorite cereals, so when they gave me the opportunity to try some out for free, I jumped at the chance!  

Honey Bunches of Oats has 10 grams of whole grains, and only 6 grams of sugar per serving.  And to be able to find a cereal that everyone in my house enjoys is a total perk! Please check out Honey Bunches of Oats Facebook page to learn everything else you never knew you wanted to know about Post Honey Bunches of Oats!

And if you haven't entered the Purex giveaways that I blogged about a few days ago, visit Purex to enter! PLUS - they have ANOTHER giveaway, for Purex Crystals.  They're giving away 25 bottles for 25 days. This is another product that I LOVE.  I washed all of my sweaters at the end of last winter with Purex Crystals in the wash, and when I pulled them out in the fall, they all still smelled AWESOME! 

Thanks for bearing with my non-crafty posts.  The Purex Insiders have been so good to me, and I want to do my part to reciprocate their generosity, along with the generosity of the companies they partner with.

card bombardment. . .

I have a huge stash of cards sitting here in my "to be blogged" folder on the computer so I thought I'd share a bunch with you today! 

This month's sponsor at CPS is Momenta. Momenta makes some SUPER CUTE papers and embellishments, and they were very generous with us CPS designers, so watch for LOTS more Momenta on this blog in the coming weeks! 

Be sure to link up your sketch cards to the CPS blog this week, and throughout the month to win yourself some Momenta goodies! 

 The next three cards all feature The Stamps of Life. . . I LOVE the new balloon dies that Stephanie came out with, and the coordinating patterned balloon stamps. Polka-dotted balloons!? I'm in LOVE! :)

These two cards feature the same basic layout, and it's one that I'm drawn to again, and again (and AGAIN.) I don't know why. But I love it, so I use it all the time. 

It's suddenly time to go get the kiddos ready and the big one off to school, so I better RUN. (And then I'm heading out for a pedi and massage!!! EEEKS! So excited!) But I did want to let you know ONE more piece of fabulous information. . . .apparently, the appeal of a free bottle of laundry detergent isn't enough to warrant comments on my poor little blog, so I've decided to throw in some crafty goodness too.  So be sure to comment on the previous post, for a chance to win a free bottle of Purex, as well as some goodies from my stash. . . right now, I'm thinking a clear stamp set, and a fun assortment of embellishments. . .also maybe some rubber unmounted stamps? :)

Clean and soapy!

Every so often I jump off my crafty bandwagon, to share about something completely different. . . .laundry.  As part of the Purex Insiders, I have access to lots of great promo information and goodies throughout the year.  And it's my duty to pass them along to YOU! (And I know you all do laundry when you aren't getting crafty, so it's not like it doesn't apply!) :)

There are just a few quick things I'd like to pass along -
first of all, Purex is running a new promotion, which most IMPORTANTLY offers a chance to win Purex laundry detergent for a YEAR! There's a winner chosen every day! You can either enter codes from your Purex bottles, or click on THIS LINK to get a free code.

Along with this promotion, there are a series of funny video vignettes, featuring Second City Comedian, Molly Erdman.  They share honest moments reflecting the ironic and slightly silly truths about everyday life, laundry, and. . .other important issues (like skinny jeans, and yoga!) You can check out all the videos here, at the Purex website.

And because I love you all sooo much, I have a coupon for FREE Purex to give away. So be sure to leave a comment on this post, and I'll draw a winner on Friday morning.  Because who doesn't need laundry detergent!!!???

Also, there's one more promo going on right now. . . Purex has teamed up with O Magazine, to offer a one-year subscription for only $10. To take advantage of this offer, click on this special link to score your magazine deal!  http://insiders.purex.com/omagazine?id_2595

Thanks for humoring me in my NON-crafty news today! I promise. . . back to the crafting tomorrow!
xoxo

Flowering Pencil Bouquet

I created this pencil bouquet tutorial for A Cherry On Top, as part of their National Scrapbooking Day celebration. Be sure to visit the ACOT website for all of the great tutorials and classes, that are still available! You'll find LOTS of great inspiration, and challenges to participate in!



This flowery bouquet, with pencil stems, is a fun teacher gift, but it's perfect for anyone whose desk needs brightening up! (And you're less likely to lose your pencils if they have cheery flowers on the ends of them!)

You can customize your flowers with any 12x12 patterned paper you have on hand. Paper with pattern on both sides works best.
Supplies I used:
-patterned paper (I used My Mind's Eye Lime Twist)
-Glue Dots, and/or two-sided tape
-buttons or brads
-pencils
-stapler
-hot glue gun

First, trim three strips of paper 9x1 inch.



Then trim three strips of a different paper 6x.5 inch.




I found that it helps to roll the smaller strips between your fingers to slightly curl them.
This will help them to bend, rather than fold, during the next two steps.



Roll each strip into a circle and adhere with liquid glue or tape adhesive.



Along the seam of your circles, stick a glue dot, or small length of two-sided tape, and squish your circle together gently.


Next, layer the three large squashed circles over top of each other to create a flower shape. These layers can be stapled in the center.
Then layer the three smaller ones together. Use a piercing tool to poke a hole through the center of the smaller flower layer, and attach a brad. If you'd like to use a button in the center instead, simply glue or staple the layers, and adhere a button over top. After that, stick the smaller flower on top of the larger one.


Use a hot glue gun to attach the flowers to the side of the pencil, near the top. Tie a green ribbon bow around the pencil for the leaves.



I chose to put my pencil bouquet into a glass jar, but a flower pot would be completely adorable too! Put buttons, beans, or a styrofoam block in the bottom to keep the pencils in place. After you decide on a container, simply tie a ribbon around it, and add a quick custom tag. I simply stamped a sentiment onto a diecut circle, and added a button.

Spring Blog Hopping with Clearsnap and The Stamps of Life

Happy blog hopping day!!!! Today I am participating in a hop with two of my favorite companies! The {Stamps} of Life, and Clearsnap. Be sure to comment along the way, because prizes will be given out randomly among the comments!  You might just win a stamp set of your choice, from TSOL, or fabulous Stephanie Barnard Colorbox inks from Clearsnap!

On this card, I went back to the very first stamp set that Stephanie created for The Stamps of Life.  It's called Back2Basics, and it is great on its own, but also a great accompaniment to so many other of Stephanie's stamp sets!

I used Colorbox's Mermaid Dye Ink, as well as Orchid Pastel and Lime Pastel Chalk Inks.  I also used some beautiful Bazzill Card Shoppe cardstock in Robin's Egg.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you'll go visit all the other participants to find some more inspiration!  Happy hopping! xoxo

Clearsnap – http://clearsnap.blogspot.com

The Stamps of Life http://stephaniebarnard.blogspot.com/

Jeanne Streiff - http://inkypaws.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/category/inks/clearsnap/
Sabrina Alery – http://sabrinaalery.blogspot.com

Deb Felts -http://withastampandasong.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Stamps%20of%20Life
Steph Ackerman - http://stephaniescraps.blogspot.com
Lydia Fiedler - http://www.understandblue.blogspot.com/
Mary Dawn Quirindongo - http://mypinkmexico.blogspot.com/
Kim Howard - http://basementstamper.blogspot.com/
Daniela Dobson - http://danieladobson.blogspot.com/
Tami Mayberry –  http://tamimayberry.blogspot.com/search/label/clearsnap
Jennifer Priest http://hydrangeahippo.com
Laura Williams –  http://www.lauralooloo.blogspot.com/ (That's me!!!!) 
Kim Pargeter – http://stampinriley.blogspot.com/
Vicki Garrett – http://summerthymestudio.blogspot.com/

Joana Studer- http://joanastamps.blogspot.com/

Emily Niehaus -http://emmielouwho.blogspot.com/

Beverly Sizemore - http://bevscreativepath.blogspot.com/

pops2eat (new stamps from TSOL!)

It's May! (It feels like it was just a few days ago that I shouted, "It's April!!!") 

The new stamp set released by The {Stamps} of Life is called pops2eat, and it is a popsicle stamp set! I had NO popsicle stamps in my collection before this stamp set - and they are really FUN to play with.  

I hope you enjoy these cards that I created. . .be sure to stop by the TSOL gallery for even more ideas!

Have a COOOL day!

xoxo