January Sneak Peek!

Did you miss us having classes during December? Even if you did, I doubt many of you probably had the time to come even if we had planned classes, right?! Even without the classes this month, December flew by like that! We've been working, though, on new ideas and projects and we're looking forward to a new year of creating with you!

One of the things we are planning on working on this coming year is getting our own website up and running! We want to be able to offer card kits online for our readers who want to make the cards we teach but don't live near by. We are also entertaining the idea of doing some videos. All of this will take time and is probably months (maybe even a year) down the road, but we thought we'd share what we're throwing around as possibilities this next coming year.

I promised you a sneak peek and I'm going to deliver! One of our January classes will feature handmade flower embellishments. We will be teaching you how to make 3 different kinds of flower embellishments. You can view our newsletter for dates and times for this class, which is called Creative Cardmaking: Flower Embellishments. It should be a lot of fun! Here's one of the cards we will be making.

Don't you love it? Those flowers are so dainty and lovely. =)

That's the sneak peek for today! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We're looking forward to the New Year!

Idea - Decorated Cookie Sleeves

Here's a fun way to to dress up cookies for giving away!

Take a cookie sleeve and adhere festive decorated paper to the front. Slip your cookies in, put them in a cute little box and tie a nice ribbon around it. You've just got a nice homemade gift for that cookie lover! =)

You could do this for a variety of occasions, just use different paper! You could also fill these sleeves with other goodies.

We've got these fun cookie sleeves all ready for you in our Etsy shop if you don't have time to make them yourself. Visit us HERE!

Hope you're having a great December so far! For us, it's going by way too fast. =)

Custom Orders for Coupon Organizers

From Adriel:

We recently completed two custom orders for our cute and stylish coupon organizers. One of them actually was the smaller receipt size. They both turned out so nicely and the customers did a good job with their paper choices. The end result is always the best part, because they end up so cute! We just wanted to share them with you. =)

Hope your week has gone well. We've been busy working away on orders and creative stuff. For my mom that's nothing new, but it's been a nice break for myself to do some creative work solidly. I planned lighter school (for K & J) for the month of December so we could enjoy doing things we don't normally get to do so much... like creating (and making gingerbread houses, which we did Wed.)! =D

Have a great weekend!

October's Color Challenge Submissions

This is terribly late, but better late than never!

Here are the submissions we received for October's THS Color Challenge! Enjoy! Both of the submissions are from our regular stampers, Crystal and April. =)

Crystal submitted these really cute Thanksgiving cards!

April made a fun fall/autumn-themed card!

Thanks for playing along with us, stampers, and thank you for being patient! I haven't even posted the color challenge on our blog for this month. I'm so behind!

Have a nice weeked! =)

Holiday Boutique Review

We enjoyed seeing a few of you on Saturday at the Holiday Boutique that we participated in! I thought I'd share a couple of pictures of our table.

We're still getting the hand of this kind of thing. I honestly think we have too much of a variety of items to sell. I think our table is overwhelming to people. I'd like to experiment with limiting the types of items we sell to just a handful. Hmmm... what do you think?

Anyway, if anything, it helped us get all of our items organized. I don't think either of us (and especially myself) realized how many cards we had! Oh my! Everything is nicely organized and copyright stamped and many things are even packaged, so there's no excuse for me not to get these things in our Etsy shop soon. I'm hoping to focus this week on getting pictures taken and edited to do just that. =)

Hope you all had a nice weekend! Did you do anything special or fun?

Clearance Rack Goodies

Stampin' Up! is having an awesome sale on discontinued items in the Clearance Rack section. We just ordered a few things of ribbon and a couple packs of Designer Series paper along with shipping for around $20! Definitely check it out and see if there's anything in there that you could use. Some items are discounted up to 80%! FYI, when you get to page 10, if you keep clicking the arrow on the side, it will take you to more pages. I don't know why they don't list more numbers, so you think you've reached the end of the clearance section. But you haven't and there's a bunch more so keep clicking!

The picture above will take you to Heidi's Demo site where there is a "shop now" button. When you get to the shop click on the "clearance rack" section to check out all the goodies for a bargain!

Happy Friday to you!

If I Had More Time and More Creativity...

I would give these challenges are whirl.


Unfortunately, I'm not feeling all that creative
and there are other pending matters
that demand my attention.

I can dream, right? ;-)

Hence, my Challenge Dream List...


Embellish Embossing Color Challenge - The colors for this challenge would definitely be too challenging for me right now... I'm totally not feeling loud and bright at the moment. However, if I was in the right mood, I can see this challenge being a ton of fun, so this one goes on my challenge dream list.



Shabby Tea Room "Comforts of Home" Challenge - So I'm not sure if I would be able to show what my comforts of home are in a card or other papercraft project (and honestly, my brain doesn't even want to think about how I would go about doing that), but I love the inspiration photo for this challenge and the shabby, victorian style. I would love to make something with those elements incorporated into it.

Mojo Monday Sketch 136 - Even as uncreative as I'm feeling, this sketch has the potential to propel me toward making something! I love that there are two options... a square or a circle. I would probably go for the circle, just because I haven't made a circle card in almost forever and in addition, I would love to try making one with our scallop circle die for the Big Shot. So many things to try...


Technostamper Sketch Challenge #119 - I love how different this sketch is. It's mighty tempting... I am in the process of designing some thank you cards... hmmm... ;-)

Do you have any creative dream lists?

This & That Thursday: Scrapbook Layouts

Here's a few pictures of some of the layouts we have been working on for the scrap-together coming up soon! The pages are not assembled yet. We just took pictures for an overall picture to help all of the wonderful ladies coming to assemble them. The pictures should help with putting the pages together quickly and also alleviate any concerns from those who think they don't know how to scrapbook.

So, those of you coming get a sneak peek!

And for those of you not able to make it,

hopefully it makes it seem like you're a part of it still. =)

We've got some yummy food planned, too! =)

I'm planning on making my Sour Cream Lemon pie...

it's so yummy and I rarely make it,

so it's a treat for me too! =)

It's getting closer and I'm looking forward to it! =)

Thanks for stopping by!
Enjoy your day!

Newsy Tuesday: SAT class & Altered Memo Board

We have been busy mainly with getting everything prepped for the SAT classes today and Thursday, as well as designing for upcoming classes. We're also putting the last details together for our Preparation Scrap-together for Allison next month. It should be a lot of fun! =)

Anyway, today's Stamp-a-Theme cards are girly-themed. We'll be making 3 cards. I only have pictures of two of the cards... the other card we're doing is a dress card my mom designed that is super cute! =)

We'll be doing an altered memo board class at Tumbleweed in May. We're actually making 2 different designs. This is one of the designs. I just have to tell you that the other design my mom did is just GORGEOUS! Can't wait to get some pictures taken to show you... it's awesome! =)

We had a great time last week making our shabby flower brooches and boxes. There are so many things you can do with the Big Shot! =)

Don't forget that the THS Color Challenge #3 is still open until the end of this month. You can click HERE or on the picture below to get all the details!

Sweet & Simple Monday: 3x3 Kraft Note Cards

These cards feature some DSP and colors that are no longer current, but you can easily take the dimensions and the idea and swap out the retired DSP and colors for current DSP and colors for the same simple and charming effect. Kraft (which will be renamed "Crumb Cake" in the new Stampin' Up! catalog coming out July 1st) is so versatile and will go with almost anything. I used this DSP paper because we had some sitting around. Use whatever you've got! =)

1. Fold a 3" x 6" piece of Kraft CS in half to form a 3" x 3" note card. Round bottom corners w/ corner rounder.

2. Attach a 1/2" x 3" strip of DSP toward bottom of card front with SNAIL, approximately 1/4" from bottom edge. Attach a 1-1/4" x 3" strip of DSP directly above first DSP strip with SNAIL.

3. Stamp floral image from Priceless stamp set with coordinating inks, depending on DSP you use. Punch out stamped image with 1-1/4" circle punch.

4. Punch a 1-3/8" circle out of a piece of cardstock in a coordinating color. Punch a 1-1/2" circle out of a piece of cardstock in a different coordinating color. Layer these circles with SNAIL, attaching stamped circle in center.

5. Attach the layered circle piece to card front w/ dimensionals toward upper right-hand corner.

Sometimes a simple scrap or stamped image can give birth to a sweet and simple design. I love how these cards look and they're one of the simplest cards I've ever made!

Thanks for stopping by our blog today. We hope you enjoyed the sweet and simple project. Leave us a comment if you like or show us some of your own sweet and simple projects you've been working on.

Have a wonderful day! =)

You can order all your Stampin' Up! supplies from Heidi by clicking HERE!

Supplies: Kraft CS, Stampin' Up! DSP, Classic inks or Stampin' Write markers, Priceless stamp set, corner rounder, SNAIL adhesive, Stampin' Dimensionals.

Friday's Fresh Finds: Giveaways

Hi to all of you! Today's Fresh Finds are some great giveaways on some other craft blogs! I thought you might like to have a go at winning some of the wonderful finds being given away...

1. Poppy Place PDX is giving away Four 5x5 Rose prints... really lovely. All you have to do is follow their blog and leave a comment... easy peasy! =) Enter the giveaway HERE!

2. Maureen Cracknell Handmade is giving away a custom owl. Let me just say that she makes super cute owls that she involves her kids in... they help her choose fabric and colors and they also help name them. Cute, huh? Anyway, all the details about entering her giveaway are HERE, but it's basically follow and comment. Easy again!

3. Java Mama Cooker is giving away an altered recipe journal. Same requirements: follow and comment. Enter the giveaway HERE!

4. Crafty Dream is giving away a beautiful tree necklace from Earrings Nation. There are a few ways to enter the giveaway, so find out how to enter HERE!

5. That Girls Crafty is giving away a beautiful pair of earrings from Julie Ellyn Designs. They're gorgeous! There are a few ways to enter the giveaway, so find out how to enter HERE!

Hope you all have a great Friday! This week seemed really long and I'm glad Friday is finally here. The weekend is tomorrow! Yay! =)

This & That Thursday: One Year Ago

Let's take a walk down memory lane

and see what we were creating last year in April!

Bella Rose Card - I miss the Bella Rose DSP... this card makes me want a whole 'nother stack to play with. It was so delicate and lovely! I really like the layout of this card and it makes me think I should try it out again with a different color scheme and DSP for a new look.

Patchwork Top Note Card - We still haven't made one of these in our classes yet! That's terrible! This definitely needs to get put on the list, because this card has great results with minimal effort. We've gotta do this soon! =)

Victorian Fifth Avenue Card - My mom used the versatile and beautiful Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set to create this card. I called it the "Triple Decker Rose" (I thought I was being pretty clever). The rose is stamped three times and she cut out parts of it from two of the images and layered them to create that fun 3-layer effect. Another idea we should try again!

Happy Hi Card - I made this card for one of Kristina Werner's challenges. Boy, was this one fun to make and it's still one of my favorites, even a year later. I just love those flowers and the colors! The vase was made by punching a wide oval and then trimming off the top. Then the top is used for the bottom of the vase! =)

Sometimes old ideas can be great for new ideas!

Have you revisited your craft or art recently

from a year ago or more and found some old ideas

that you want to try again?

Tell us about it.

This & That Thursday

From Adriel:

Okay, I'm not proud of what I have to show you today. I spent the entire afternoon yesterday working on this and it turned out terrible in my opinion. But it's something to share with you and it fits into a couple of challenges. Perhaps you can give me some suggestions on what I could have done different! Anyway, onto yesterday's disaster project!

This project is for the Our Creative Corner: Break Out the Buttons challenge, the Pals Paper Arts Flower-theme challenge, and our very own Two Happy Stampers Color Challenge #3.

I made a tote for 3-1/4" x 4-7/8" note cards (basically fits into a 3-1/2" x 5" envelope). I used the directions for the tote from Procrastistamper... I just changed the measurements a bit to fit a smaller card. Sorry, don't have the measurements in front of me at the moment, but I may share them at a later time. The tote itself is very cute and I like the design a lot, so the afternoon wasn't completely wasted.

I did a bunch of stuff to the front of the tote that I'm not proud of. I like my shabby flower, but it just doesn't seem to go. The ribbon was fun to do! =)

I also made 5 notecards to go in the tote that I'm not proud of. HAHA! Well, it's good to be humbled. =)

I hope you enjoyed my attempt at being creative! Hopefully my creative juices will get going a little better soon. =) Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day! =)

BTW, our color challenge is looking a bit lonely at the moment... we'd love to have you play along with us! Our challenge is open for the entire month of April, so you still have plenty of time! Check out the details HERE!

Flower Embellishments

From Adriel:

Stop paying crazy money for flower embellishments at the craft store! Using a punch or two, scissors, cardstock, patterned paper, adhesive and a couple other supplies, you can make your own "WOW" flower embellishments!
Here's some fun flower embellishments I made using a combination of the techniques found in the following tutorials.

The bottom flower uses the flower-making technique that Dawn McVey uses in her video HERE. Lots of fun!



The middle of the flower embellishment uses the flower-making technique by Lolly Chops found HERE, but think much smaller... although a huge one of these would look awesome on practically ANYTHING! =)

Flower Tutorial from Lolly Chops on Vimeo.

I don't remember exactly how I attached the middle part to the bottom flower layer, but I would imagine a decent amount of glue or a good sized glue dot would do the trick. I'm going to do something soon (I don't even know what!) with this flower and I'll show you what I end up creating with it! =) For now, have some fun making your own and creating with them!

Be sure to check back here tomorrow to find out what the THS Color Challenge #2 for March will be! =)

Something Fun to Try

From Adriel:

Here's a different kind of bookmark that is simple to make, but looks awesome! I used the tutorial on Mary's blog which you can find HERE.

I used the Charming stamp set from Stampin' Up! and embossed in black and white. It's really an elegant bookmark and would make a great gift for anyone! Make a card to match, slide the bookmark over the corner and you've got an instant and lovely gift. Seriously, this bookmark takes less than 20 minutes to make... great for when you need a last minute something for a thank you or other occasion and you need a little something more than a card.

Here's another tutorial for a similar, but simpler bookmark made using the Petal Card die. I don't own that die, but this one looks like fun, too!

Have fun and enjoy yourself! We would love to see what you end up with... leave us a link to what you make! =)

Oh, and don't forget about our color challenge... there's still a few more days left. It ends Feb. 26th! Get all the details HERE!

Holiday Placecards

From Adriel:

Haven't been working on a whole lot the past couple of weeks... got some bug and it just hung on for dear life! Anyway, today I felt more like myself and hopefully am on the way out of being sick! =)

I have found some time (and energy) to squeeze in a bit of creating over the past few weeks and here's some placecards I made a week or so ago. Fun! =)

The placecards measure 3-5/8" x 4" and are scored @ 2" for a tent-style placecard. Sometimes smaller scale is fun to work with. When you've done a lot of cards, working with something smaller can be a great creative break! =)

Thanks for stopping by! I'm sorry I've been so absent lately... just a lot going on right now in life. =)

Special Recipes Deserve a Special Home

From Adriel:

That's right... a home like this!

I finished the recipe binder my mom previewed a few days ago. It's all done and in our shop ready for some special recipes.

The inside is complete with dividers and tabs for a variety of foods. Most of the tabs have been hand-stamped with images from "From the Kitchen of" stamp set. Two of the images my mom threw together on her computer using word and they worked out great. The images have all been water colored using the blender pen and ink technique.

The holes in the dividers are all reinforced with matching designer paper. And if you're familiar with stamping, you probably recognize the paper from last year's Stampin' Up! catalog. It's called "Rockabilly" designer paper and the cherries looked perfect for a recipe album. =)

Anyway, it was fun to make and I'm sure we'll be making more of them! =)

Don't Leave Your Bread Bare!

From Adriel:

Check out these cute mini bread loaf sleeves that we recently added in our Etsy shop! So cute, right? =)

We made a bunch of these for last weekend's craft show that didn't go so well... oh well! Our Etsy shop always has room for more! =)

We used high quality cardstock from Stampin' Up!. We had some holiday printed paper that we had bought last year in a stack and the prints worked great for these sleeves. The tags we included on each of these sleeves features stamped images from the Hostess set "Snow Buddies" that's available right now in the Holiday Mini Catalog. I watercolored the snowflakes by hand and they're also stamped on the back with a "to / from" stamp.

This set of 6 mini loaf sleeves is available right now in our Etsy shop HERE! Don't leave your bread bare this coming season of giving! Your bread is begging to be cute! =)