A gift for a friend

Hey!! Hope you had a nice weekend! It was actually really warm & muggy here in Wisconsin ... not October weather at all! Although, the year my son was born (the one who just turned 18) I do remember a fair amount of visitors wearing shorts & complaining about the humidity. So maybe it IS October weather around these parts. No worries, it will be back down to the 60's in a day or two.

Things have been a bit rough at work lately. One gal on my "team" quit & is leaving at the end of the month, & another gal just found out some major medical news & will be out 2-3 months. That leaves my sales director, & me. It's a good thing neither of us takes life too seriously & we know we can only do so much in a day. Still, I wanted to get her a little something so she knows we are in this together! 

(I just noticed I forgot to add the twine before I took the picture)

She loves & very often steals my K-cups at work. She really super muchly loved these: {stock photo because I forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it}

They are very hard to find here, in fact I found them at one store & one store only. So I bought her a box. 3 weeks ago. Because I knew I had to make a tag to go with her gift bag, & it took me that long to find a stamp that would work. What??? I know!!! I have barely any coffee/ hot chocolate/ mug stamps!! 

No worries though, I finally found a cute acrylic set at Hobby Lobby. So I was all ready to make her tag ... browsing Pinterest for inspiration and .... OMG I saw this embossing folder & HAD to have it! 

So ..... search & search & search & it's not to be found in any store here. So I ordered it on Ebay. 

{{{ are you thinking "she must be a REALLY good friend" by now?? }}}

It arrived luckily in just a few days so I was able to finally finish off that gift bag with a tag. Never mind that after I received the folder I saw a whole set ... the folder, Starbucks coffee cup & die ... for about the same price *sob* 

I was actually slightly stumped when it came to actually making the tag. Between the new stamp set & the very cool embossing folder (and I may have also bought some distress markers)  I was having a hard time figuring it out. I wanted something simple, but cute. I went with the distress + glittery Stickles look because, why not? Those 2 things don't really go together but I think I made it work? {yes, that's a question}

The good news is she loved it! The hot chocolate AND the whole gift package ensemble. I gave her a little candy gift not too long ago & she was super impressed. That's why I like giving things like this to her. She's not really crafty at all, so she wouldn't know if something totally sucks!!! 

Have a great week! 

Co-worker love

Happy Sunday to all! Booooo ... It's been a pleasant enough day but now it's 7:47 & the Sunday night stress begins ....

BUT I did have some play time this weekend. I almost forgot how to! I wanted to make a little something for my sales director at work. It's been a rough few weeks for pretty much everyone at work, but especially for her. The usual work stress ... the stress of her son starting freshman year of college  ....& the stress of getting into a car accident & totaling her car. See people? It can always be worse! 

She & I were venting talking on Friday about all this, & as I was leaving her office she said "It's going to get better?" I asked if that was a statement or a question & she said "Yes" lol .... at that moment I decided she needs a little pick-me-up. Here's what I made for her: 

I found the cute little candies at Hobby Lobby. They're minty chocolates with teeny tiny sprinkles. What says happy more than teeny tiny sprinkles?!? I bought the clear bags from Papertrey Ink about a billion years ago, & this is the first one I've used!! * cough * HOARDER * cough *

I think I've never done bag toppers because I wasn't sure how to attach them. So, like with everything else, I winged it! I stapled the bag shut then used a strip of adhesive on both sides of the card. The flowers I bought a looong time ago, & I remember thinking after I bought them WHYYY did I buy these?? They are huge! I finally found a use for ... well, one :)

The paper from K&Company was perfect. I punched a couple of butterflies, added a few teeny tiny pearls (to go with the teeny tiny sprinkles) & just used my computer for the saying. I'm going to leave it on her desk before she gets there tomorrow. If she figures out it's from me then I'll know she's paying attention to our conversations lol! 

I still haven't finished going through my vacation photos. On one hand, I loooove going through them & remembering all the fun we had, but on the other hand it makes me miss being there so much! 

I'm also working on another project. Because not having time for one hobby isn't enough. 

Have a great week everyone!

Magnolia frame

Hello all, happy almost-Friday!! Today I have a frame to show you -- I know -- I *never* do anything but a card, lol. But I've been seeing lots of frames lately & I wanted to play too!!




I found this frame at Michaels & used that fabulous 25% off coupon last week so I think it ended up being about $3.50 -- it was perfect for what I wanted to do with it. I think the name of this Tilda is Witch Tilda -- I think fall is my favorite time of year -- love the colors, the smells -- and the STAMPS! I paper pieced her dress using Bazzill Dots & colored the rest with Copics. All the flowers are punched from Bazzill Dots as well -- added a pumpkin charm & a Cuttlebug Corner -- & there you have a frame that is way cuter than it was!




Can you see the wee bit of bling I added to her ruffles?





I think I should have added more leaves. Ah well....next time! I couldn't believe how hard it was to get a photo, now that I'm thinking about it I wonder if the glare from the glass made my camera not focus??

This will be listed on Ebay tonight -- if I can get some decent photos!!

Hope you all have a great weekend! My baby turns 9 tomorrow so Saturday he is having a friend sleep over. Not sure what we'll do -- either the beach or a movie, depending on the weather! Here's to a sleepless night!!

Paper bag album

So some of you know I belong to an Ebay seller group, The Paper Hen House. This group is comprised of some of THE most talented paper crafters on the planet!! Serious serious talent!! Layouts & tear bears & all kinds of projects, including one gal who makes the MOST AMAZING paper bag albums you have ever seen!! Her name is Darla & you can find her listings HERE. Please check her out, she is fantastic, super talented & oh so sweet!!

Anyway, because she oozes so much talent --well I must have thought I could capture some of that through the computer. I decided *I* needed to try a paper bag album. That was last fall. Of course, being fall, I decided to make it a fall album. Then winter came. I was not even half done with it. So I put it aside. And took it out again a couple of months ago, DETERMINED to have it done by *this* fall. Well it is done, more or less. And considering I started it a year ago, I think it should be FABULOUS ----but it isn't, lol. But here it is!



This scarecrow from High Hopes is one of my favorites, he's Guard Duty Rudy --available in big & small! The letters are the Cuttlebug Alphabet (Harmony, maybe??) & the papers are all Recollections.



I am still tweaking the pages --I would like to sell this on Ebay but it has to be TPHH-worthy!! So while I consider it done --all the pages are sewn & glued on & they all have embellishments of some sort --I feel some of the pages needs "more". So I'm going to set it on my table & ponder a few additives.

Here is one set of pages that I will probably leave as is.....I do like how they turned out....but who knows...the more I look at them the more I might just think they also need something more!




As I finish the other pages I will share. This was a huge project & I will never ever do another album!! They are adorable but I will leave these to Darla --she is absolutely the pro!! If you want to check out all the Paper Hen House listings.......click HERE. You will not find cuter paper crafts!!

Thank you so much for visiting me on this beautiful Monday!! Have a fantastic week!!

Corner bookmark

Happy Hump Day!! Since I haven't had much creative time....I thought I would try something that I *thought* would be quick & easy!! Turns out, not so much!





I've seen a lot of corner bookmarks floating around lately & really wanted to try one. I found the tutorial that Beate did on SCS HERE & thought "easy peasy". Well if you know me, you know that I am project challenged! If it's not a card, I will have a problem making it. Simple directions...but I really need to learn to measure twice & cut once!! It turned out ok....if you tilt your head a bit because parts are crooked....but I do think you can't do wrong with ANY Magnolia image!!

This is Dreamy Tilda....one of my first Tildas.....& I colored her with Copic markers. I used DCWV Citrus papers, & cut the image out with my Blossom Nesties. Added some Stickles....some ribbon....& some half pearls although I don't know how those will hold up considering this is a bookmark, but the bottom looked bare without them!!




Voila ---- my first bookmark!! The directions really are easy for a regular person to follow. Now that I "get it" I will be making more. I would like to add a bunch of these to my Etsy shop in the next few weeks....the holiday shoppers will be out & about!!





Wasn't sure what I was supposed to do with the back, so I kept it simple. Once it's in a book nobody will see the back anyway!!

Well my mom's surgery is this Friday, finally. Seems like we've waiting a loooong time. She was diagnosed back in July!! I will be so glad when it's over. We have to be at the hospital at 7, & the surgery is supposed to last around 7 hours. Thank goodness for my aunt, who will be joining me for the long wait. Please send good thoughts our way!! I just want it to be over!

Oh good. More snow.

Our official snow total for Friday when all was said & done was 13". Except Mother Nature *wasn't* done ~~ she dumped 4 more inches on us last night!! I am so glad we don't travel for Christmas. I feel so badly for those trying to get out of Wisconsin!! The farthest I have to go is my mom's house ~~ 5 minutes away :)


I am trying to get gifts done for the school staff. Here is a jar of chocolate goodness I made for the ladies I work with. I know I'm not a *real* employee ~~ I'm still just a sub, regardless of how long I've been there & will be there. But they all have been so incredibly nice to me, & so helpful. Not one of them has treated me as "just a sub". They include me in everything. They have a secret stash ~~ ok, not so secret ~~ of chocolate in the teacher's cabinet, so I wanted to add to that stash. I bought a HUGE jar at Michael's, & a HUGE bag of chocolate (Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Twix, Hershey kisses....mmm....) & filled 'er up.


The jar is so huge, I couldn't even fit a 12"x12" piece of paper around it, so I angled it. The paper is from the DCWV Christmas glitter stack from last year. You can see where it comes to a point in the front, so I had to cover that up with something adorable. Nothing more adorable than Santa Snowman from Whipper Snapper (BTW, did you see their new website?? Looks awesome!! And now you can order their stamps wood mounted, cling mounted, or unmounted!). I colored him with Prismas & gamsol, & added Dazzling Diamonds to his hat. I used Liquid Applique for the snow, & added the DD glitter to that as well. Had to make sure it sparkled!! Used my Nesties for the layers (that's Cryogen shimmer white paper on the bottom). Added some ribbon & a sparkly snowflake around the lid.


Then for the top I used a sentiment from my Papertrey Holiday Treats set. Added a small snowflake to the center, glue dotted that to a big sparkly snowflake (bought a pack of those at Michael's) & put all that on top of another Nestie cut from yet another piece of paper from the DCWV stack. I don't like how this picture turned out, the blue is more of an indigo shade rather than the bright blue this pic is showing. But you get the idea :)


I can't wait to give them this jar tomorrow ~~ my last day before Xmas vacation. They still have school Tuesday, but it's an early day so I don't have to work. Which is good, because I'm having Dominos pizza with my 4th grader. That's what they decided to do instead of a regular class party ~~ order pizza & soda & invite the parents & play music.......too much fun!!

I hope you all have a productive Sunday!! I'm off to finally do some baking!! First up are Spritz cookies, using my grandma's recipe which I posted HERE. If you haven't tried it, you should. Trust me :)

Challenge Sunday

It's Sunday again & you know what that means ~~ another High Hopes challenge!! This week's challenge come to us from Nikki, & we are to make anything BUT a card! I chose to make a gift bag ~~ I'll be needing lots of these soon enough!!


I used one of the new releases, Woodland Santa. I stamped him onto Whisper White using my new Memento ink (love this stuff) & colored him with Prisma pencils & Gamsol. I then added glitter to his hat & made his axe shiny with my Sakura clear glaze pen. I used my Nesties to cut just the scalloped rectangle & the "button" is a Sizzix die. The papers are from a DCWV glitter stack that I bought on clearance after Xmas last year. The bag is actually a white lunch bag that I cut down a bit, & added the tissue & ribbon. I will be making lots of these gift bags this year for teachers so it's nice to get a head start!


Make sure you check out what all the other divas did on the High Hopes blog & also on their individual blogs. Please join us by making something other than a card & posting it in the comments of the challenge blog!!

Hope you all have a great Sunday! I'm having lunch with a friend that I haven't seen in a while so I'm looking forward to that. My kindergartener is off tomorrow because of conferences, so it's a "Michael & Mommy day". Haircut, lunch & a trip to Toys R Us!! I'm pretty sure our day will not include stamping, lol, but I have started several projects that I hope to complete soon!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!