Notecard Sets

I made these little note card and box sets for my retreat guests.  As this post appears, we are busy at retreat with lots of crafting, scrapbooking, chatting, eating and relaxing!  Sound nice?  IT IS!  Check out my retreat blog here for more info and you can always join us next year!

So, these card sets may look a bit familiar to those I've posted earlier this month.  Previously, I made them with some B&T papers from some retired kits.  When I got the February Stamp of the Month, Friendship, I knew I wanted to use it on a project to make some dynamic random stamping patterns.  When I thought about it, this was the perfect project!  I needed to make multiple gifts that were very similar but slightly different.  I used White Daisy cardstock as my card box base and random stamped using Black, Grey Wool and one of the new colors from the revised Summer CTMH color palettes (Pear, Sky, Smoothie, Sunset, Gypsy, Pacifica, Cotton Candy and Lagoon).  Using the card box template found here,  I scored and made the folds to make a super-sturdy, double-walled card box (which worked much better with the cardstock weight vs. my previous project which used background & texture paper which is much thinner).  I made five - 4 1/4x5 1/2 note cards with Black, White Daisy, Grey Wool and one of the new summer colors of cardstock, inserted those and five envelopes inside, tied a little black ribbon on the front of the box for embellishment, and voila, totally cute and practical gift project!!!  I am so happy with how these turned out.  I used the Friendship, Felicity and Wings WOTG stamp sets for this project.  I also used the new CTMH scalloped circle punch on the note cards.

Valentine's Teacher Gifts

I had so much fun making teacher gifts for my kids' teachers this year for Valentine's Day.  I got this idea from a fellow CTMH consultant's blog who has amazing artwork here and she found the template from another stamper's blog here.

These are fun note card boxes which are made from a 12x12 sheet of two-sided background & texture papers using a scoring blade in a paper trimmer and the guide on the blog linked above.  Then, I made six 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 note cards and included envelopes as well.

The top box is made from the retired Cherry-O papers.  Colors are Sweet Leaf, Tulip, Chocolate and Colonial White.  I used the Felicity and Bohemian Alphabet stamp sets and the new scalloped circle punch from CTMH. 

The second box is made from the retired Topstitch papers.  Colors are Crystal Blue, Blush, Chocolate and Colonial White.  I used the Felicity and Bohemian Alphabet stamp set and the new scalloped circle punch from CTMH.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Valentine's Day Class Cards

Here are the cards I made for my son and daughter to give out to their classmates tomorrow:

I was inspired by a project I found online.   They are little folders that hold a candy pouch on the inside.  I made the half-circle tabs to hold the candy by using my smallest circle on my circle coluzzle, just one half of it on each side. 

The girls version uses the retired Cherry-O papers.  Colors are Tulip, Crystal Blue, White Daisy and Grey Wool.  Stamps are from Sweetheart WOTG and Simple Stitches.  The boys version uses the retired You Rock papers.  Colors are Outdoor Denim and Goldrush.  Stamps are from Everyday Celebration, My Game and Simple Stitches.

Holiday Treats!

 

I just finished these treat bags for my kids to give to their teachers and friends to celebrate the season!  We made Specalatzi cookies this past weekend, a family tradition this time of year!  I bagged up five cookies each, and made these bag toppers and tags for each gift.  I used the All Decked Out stamp set - my son has been wanting to stamp with me using this set for awhile now, and this project was a perfect use for it!  He had so much fun helping me stamp the hats and scarves for the snowmen.  I just random stamped for the bag toppers using a color combination I found on Jeanette's Color Me Monday challenge on her blog.  Jeanette Lynton is the founder and CEO of Close To My Heart, and her blog features fabulous artwork and color combos.  This one is Sorbet, Cocoa, Outdoor Denim and Crystal Blue.  This is a fun little project to get the kids involved in and share some love during this special season!

Here's my family recipe for Specalatzi sugar cookies:

1/2 lb butter

2 cups sugar

4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

rind of 1 small lemon

3 eggs

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar together in mixer on low.  Add eggs, one at a time and lemon rind.  Add cinnamon, baking powder and flour, gradually until well mixed.  Roll out thin on a well floured surface adding more flour to dough as needed.  Cut, decorate and bake at 350 degrees for 7-8 minutes.