SpOOktacular Retreat Treats Anyone?

I am so excited to be leaving at the end of the week to go on a four day scrappin retreat out of town that I am hostessing for 10 of my friends. I know I can use the break and just have some "girl time".  We plan a get away once or twice a year...so glad this one is finally here as we have been looking forward to it for months!

 

And since I just LOVE to spoil my friends, I decided to make them each a personalized Retreat Treat Bag to put at their croppin' space when they arrive.

 

I LOVE the colors of Halloween so I have quite the stash of Halloween paper I have collected over the years.  All of these bags were made from the awesome Midnight Spell pad by DCWV that I already had in my stash from last year, I think.  Their paper weight is perfect for making the treat bags. And the designs in this pad were awesome ! Lots of glittery prints and silver foil on them.

All the bags and SPOOKY black glittery images on them were cut from Teresa Collins Chic and Scary cartridge.  This cartridge has some of the most amazing Halloween images on it. If you don't already own it, you should get it for sure !

 

Project Directions:

The bag was cut out of (1) single sheet of 12"x12" paper with the settings on FIT TO PAGE.  That created a perfect 5" tall X 3"wide little gift bag.  The great thing is there are score lines that let you easily fold the bag shape and you only need a small strip of double sided tape to keep the bag held together.  The various Halloween images I used were cut at about 2" and there then adhered using a foam pop dot.

 

The Trick or Treat tag was made using Tags Bags Boxes and More and cutting the tag out at 2 1/2". 

The stamp is from "Ghouls & Goblins" by Inkadoo.  I used embossing ink and Tim Holtz Distress Powder and then heat set the image. I intentionally "splashed" a little extra embossing ink and powder on the tag to give it a more distressed look.  I inked the edges of the tag using black ink pad taking care to shade the edges. I used some black and Halloween colored Tulle to tie each tag to the bag.

Each bag is different which makes it more fun for each of the receivers.  I filled each with some newspaper print tissue in the bottom, three treat size candy bars and personalized pocket tissues with each ladies initial on hers.

 

Here is a few more of the bags.  I loved how there was a scary woods theme paper with little crows on it...matched the Crow die cut image perfectly ! And of course, Spiders are a MUST for Halloween decor !

 

And since I willl be traveling with these...I lucked out and they all fit in my 12X12 scrapbook case I bought a while back at JoAnn's perfectly.  

 

I do plan on getting quite a few holiday gifts made while I am gone as well as some projects for Scrap Me Quick Designs website to sell so be on the lookout for those soon too !

 

Enjoy your weekend...I know I will !

What's Black and White and Pink All Over????

WHY A ZEBRA OF COURSE !! 
My youngest daughter is having another baby girl on March 24th.  Yeah !  Another granddaughter to love !!!
She chose a Zebra and Hot Pink theme for the nursery.  It is so pretty together. 

Her best friend gave her a baby shower this weekend and I color coordinated my gifts to match the nursery theme.  She loved it !!!

I made the Zebra tags using my Create A Critter Cricut Cartridge.

I even found these adorable Glittery pink Zebra bags at Target

and Zebra striped tissue at Hobby Lobby.

And I made her this adorable card using

New Arrival Cricut Cartridge and

my cuttlebug polka embossing folder for

the white background pattern paper

Here is the "mommy to be" and my

adorable 9 yr old granddaughter. 

She gave the new baby a Zebra pillow pet !  So cute.

She is very excited to be BIG SISTER after all this time :)

Now we just have to WAIT for the little bundle of joy to arrive !!!

It's A Wrap Blog Hop

Welcome to the It’s a Wrap Blog Hop hosted by Cool Beans By L.B.

Do you like to receive gifts? How about give them? Well this hop is all about the outside…the wrapping; Gift bags, boxes, baskets and more. There are several wonderful stops on this hop and

we hope you will take some time to stop in and see everything we have created to inspire you.  

You should have arrived here from, CoolbeansbyLB , which is the start of the blog hop.  

Here are a few different gift wraps I have made lately for special events: 

There is one thing I am always needing when a birthday rolls around and that is a gift bag for the present.  I like to stock up on plain colored bags in bulk from local craft store and keep on hand to create a unique gift back to fit the occassion and person.  Most of the time I use my Cricut to make adorable die cuts in birthday themes.

All the designs for this project were created using the Cricut Birthday Bash cartridge. The big birthday cake on the bag was cut at 7 inches, the yellow cake base cardstock was embossed with the Cuttlebug, and I added some yummy frosting using Martha Stewart chunky white glitter. I even used foam dots to pop-up the birthday word.

Here is a close up so you can see the details better.

I made a matching mini birthday card as a tag using the cake card shape on the Birthday Bash cartridge cut at 5 inches. I added some "paper sprinkles" to the icing and highlighted them with stickles.

I also like to personalize the gift bag with a monogram, like I did here for graduation presents for a couple of special friends daughter's high school graduation. I used the colors of the college they would be going to in the fall as inspiration...they loved them !

But I don't stop at just making gift bags...I LOVE to make pillow boxes for gifts too.

I recently went to a wedding and made this as a bridal luncheon gift holder.  The bride thought it was so pretty she didn't even want to open it  to see the handmade cards that were the gift inside.

I made the box out of a shiny cardstock that I don't remember the name of but have had laying around for a long time by using a template. Then added ribbon trim to the edges. For the tag, I glimmer misted a manila tag, punched the edges with my Fiskars Apron lace punch. Stamped a frame and hand lettered the brides name. And then added a Prima flower that I glimmer misted in pearl. I tied it onto the package with some sheer ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by on this fun hop. Leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by please.

Your next stop on the hop is Cindy.

Look What a Friend Made Me !

I hosted a Pre-National Scrapbook Day Crop this past Saturday for about 20 wonderful scrapper friends.  We had so much fun!  Lots of scrapping, lots of talking, lots of laughing, lots of sharing inspiration with each other.  In fact, I had so much fun that I forgot to take pictures !  I know, unbelievable, isn't it!  LOL

I do have pics of a wonderful present to share with you that Charlotte aka Buggin' Out was kind enough to make me as a hostess thank you gift.  I just LOVE IT !!!!

Is this not just the cutest thing ever?!  And it was even filled with all kinds of bling and flowers !

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Dear Charlotte !!!!!!!!! 

It's Shopping and Wrapping Time !

My Christmas shopping is well in hand and now it is time to start the wrapping !  I love the wrapping part....I know that sounds crazy since most people don't enjoy that part.  This year I decided that each family member will receive a gift in a handmade gift bag.  I spent last night making about 18 bags.  It was so easy since I used my Cricut to cut out embellishments with Gingerbread seasonal cart and Lacy Labels and Winter Frolics for the tags.  I used wonderful Christmas patterned paper from Provo Craft which is Holiday Slab 5.

I won't bore you with all 18 bags but here are a few of my favorites I made. Hope it inspires you to take a moment to make your gift giving a little extra special for those you love.

  Ho Ho Ho....Merry Christmas to all !

Welcome to Holiday Wishes Blog Hop

                                                       

Kathryn aka Wamfamily over on the Cricut Circle Message board had a wonderful idea to host a Christmas inspired Blog Hop. So 13 of us will be posting pictures of holiday projects today that we have made to share and hopefully inspire you.

If you haven't done a blog hop before, no worries.  Just start at the top blog listed and jump to the next one on the list until you have visited all 13 blogs.  Some of the hop hostesses are even offering blog candy (giveaway) so be sure and follow any directions they have provided to submit your entry.

Here is a list to help you on your Holiday Wishes Blog Hopping today:
1) Wamfamily - http://wamfamily.blogspot.com/  - HOSTESS and START of BLOG HOP
2) Scrappin Nanapuddin - http://scrappin-nanapuddin.blogspot.com/
3) Mandy - http://mandys-scrap.blogspot.com/
4) JenniferHawkins2 - http://scrapaholicjen.blogspot.com/
5) CraftyScentiments - http://www.craftyscentiments.com/
6) TheScrapbookGirl - http://www.cricutconfessions.com/
7) Lechristina3 - http://allthingscrafty3.blogspot.com/
8) ABrooks86 - http://almabrooksblog.blogspot.com/
9) LisaKnight - http://www.cricutingwithlisa.blogspot.com/
10) Makeupgirl217 - http://217creations.blogspot.com/
11) Greengirl - http://greengirlscraps.blogspot.com/
12) ScrapHappyDeb - http://debseclecticthoughts.blogspot.com/ - YOU ARE HERE
13) Bling Queen - http://lvscrappin.blogspot.com/

HAPPY HOLIDAYS Gift Set

I made a holiday wrapper to go around a delicious smelling Christmas jar candle and a cute matching gift bag to give as gifts this year to friends.   Who doesn't love the sweet smell of Christmas throughout the holiday? This is my entry in the monthly Cricut Circle challenge.  We were supposed to make a gift project using a  tag, use 2 cricut cuts or more, a sentiment, the color red and some ribbon. 

GIFT BAG CLOSE UP

TAG CLOSE UP

CANDLE CLOSE UP

Products Used: Medium Kraft Gift Bag, Provo Craft Holiday Slab 5 for pattern paper, Bazzill Card Stock and American Crafts Foil Cardstock, Martha Stewart SNOW glitter and glue. Cricut Carts used: Gingerbread Seasonal for the Snowman, Christmas Cheer for the snowflakes and Tags, Bags, Boxes and More for the Tag and Lacy Labels for the for the candle label, Winter Frolic for the Happy Holidays saying.


MY BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY

I just love the Gingerbread Seasonal Cartridge I used to make the Snowman so I am giving one away to a lucky winner. 

To win my blog candy do the following: 1) Become a follower of my blog if you are not already AND 
2) leave me a comment about my Blog Hop Projectby 5 pm CST on Sunday, December 12th.   Be sure and leave how to contact you on your comment.  Winner will be announced by 9 pm on December 12th.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays to you all....You should be hopping over to the last but not least wonderful blog of Bling Queen - http://lvscrappin.blogspot.com/. 

Best Wishes to My Friends Jill and CJ

Well folks, it was quite a weekend. Not only did I celebrate my 51st birthday with the family (I will post more on that later) but one of my best girlies got married this weekend !  Woooohoooo!!!!!

 Join me in wishing Jill and CJ

many many happy years together 

Jill is an avid crafter in her own right but she does admire my work from time to time. So I decided the best thing I could give them as a gift was one of my custom "Keepsake Plates" to display a photo of their beautiful event. 

Once they get their photos back, we will select a picture to display on the plate.

I used my Gypsy and Cricut to weld and cut out the black background images for the bling and sentiment stickers. I also cut out the letter "e" and glittered it since that is the first initial of their last name together.  Awwwwwwww.  The flowers are Prima with some added shine via Tattered Angels and Glitter.

I also made the reception favors for them.  Jill's colors were Purple and Silver so I used Hershey Kisses and purple ribbon to tie that theme together. I cut the tags out with my Cricut and found these perfect silver "thank you" stickers to add to them.  I love how these turned out.

My house smelled liked chocolate for days after I made 100 of these....well, that isn't a bad thing !  LOL

And so my friends, another couple is off on their wedded bliss adventure. 

Ode to FRIENDS...

Don't you agree that your FRIENDS are one of the best things in your life ? 

I don't know what I would do if I didn't have those friendly shoulders to cry on...
that encouraging voice telling me I did the right thing...
that gleeful shout of joy accompanying mine when we find just the thing to buy when shopping...
the telling of secrets both big or small...
that special someone who is always on my side...
that same someone who will honestly tell me when I messed up...

My friends mean a lot to me.  This Christmas I had intended and planned to make all of my very bestest friends a special Christmas gift.  Alas, I only got around to making two of these due to my surgery in December but I take solace in the fact the two I did make were well received.  To my other friends who didn't receive one of these, you just might find yourselves getting a different hand made goodie later in the year to show you how much I treasure your friendship.

When I was at Creative Escape this past year, I was inspired by Teresa Collins' FRIENDS line I found at  one of the stores.  I immediately bought as much as they had (which was a bunch!) and started designing in my head of what I would make.  As I shopped at other stores during my trip, I gathered some extra yummy items to use on my creations.....Prima Black Scalloped Trim and Silver Leaves and Gossamer Butterflies and White Prima Flowers, Maya Road Chandlier Beads and Pearl Trim, and several Teresa Collins black tabbed albums for the backing and awesome Pearl Glimmer Mist plus some blue gossamer ribbon.

Okay, without further ado (isn't that a funny saying ? okay, I digress) here are the two FRIENDS projects I managed to make. {sorry about the not so good pics...I took these at the last minute before wrapping these gifts up to give}

"Friendship lightens every burden and makes the sunshine brighter."

No truer words have been written about friendship.

"A friend is someone who knows the song in my heart and

can it to you when you have forgotten the words."

I almost cry every time I read this...it is so true that your friends help keep you going.

I can tell you, I was humming a happy tune when I was making these and feeling so INSPIRED by my dear friends to create a project that would let them know how much they mean to me. 

I hope everyone takes a moment this week to do a little something to show atleast one or more of your friends you are thinking of them.  

Another GIFT Idea

The THIRD GIFT was made for my Father and his wife.  They had just moved into their new house the week before Christmas and I wanted their gift to be something tied to the new house. I decided to make them a WELCOME sign to hang in the front hall.  They are using pale blue and silver and earth tones as their color scheme in the front rooms so that was the INSPIRATION for the color scheme.

I did a lot of altering on most of the pieces on this project. The "Welcome" letters are from House of 3 digital kit that I printed out on white smooth cardstock and altered using Ranger products such as distress inks, paint daubers and stickles. I also added little details around each letter with a silver glitter pen. And  to top it all off, you guessed it, more Prima flowers and leaves.

Here is a close up of the "To Our Home" name plate I created....The embossed silver paper was actually gold so I used a Ranger silver paint dauber to change the color. It worked beautifully.  It is hard to see here but after using distress ink on the "to Our Home" die cut, I added a little bit of silver glitter gel pen around the letters to give it a punch of silver color.  And to anchor the name plate, I used some gorgeous silver buttons by Delish Designs. If you have not checked out Delish before, they are an amazing company from Australia that have incredibly beautiful papers and embellishments.

And of course, I couldn't resist using Tattered Angels glimmer mist Pearl to add some shine to the Prima

white flowers.  I also added a touch of Ranger silver paint dauber to the edges of the flower for highlights and to tie the color scheme together.  I love how they turned out.

I love playing with different products and getting a totally custom look. It is INSPIRING to me and hopefully to you as well.   Have an awesome weekend!

Now On To The Good Stuff...

I am still playing around with design of my blog and will most likely change a few more things but  ON TO THE GOOD STUFF !

I have been dying to post pics of some of the gifts that I made for Christmas this year. Everyone has finally received their gifts now so I can let you take a peak over the next few days. I hope you enjoy the projects as much as the receivers seemed to like their gifts.  

All these gifts were customized for special family members.  I used the wonderful Fancy Pants Designs On Display Embellish Me Frames as the base for creating these.  These frames are 18X9 and a wonderful size to hang on the wall of your home or even on a large easel on an entry way table, etc.

The 18X9 size was a little daunting since I wanted one continuous background paper.  By a stroke of luck, I found a wonderful selection of custom artist paper in large sheets at Aaron Brothers.  Their selection was fantastic and was just what I hoped to find.  They were hideously expensive for a sheet of paper but well worth it for the depth of embossed and metallic printed qualities.

Note:  Right click on any of the pics to see a close up view of the project and papers.  

The FIRST GIFT was made for my Brother Jim and his family.  I was thrilled to find some really fun faux animal print with great embossed texture since my bro is a big hunter.  Plus the background paper fits perfectly into the color scheme of their lovely home. The "Family" word is a House of 3 transparency that I colored the backside of the image with inks and paints and stamping to texturize.  I love how it tied the color scheme to together so well. And of course, I couldn't resist adding a luscious Prima flower and some leaves for the final touch !

I was especially happy with the photo selection that really lets the personality of my bro Jim, my sis-in-law Kim and my adorable nephew Nicholas shine through.

The SECOND GIFT was made for my Mother-In-Law.  I decided to show case the three granddaughters...our daughter Crystal, our daughter Heather and our granddaughter Bianca. My mother-in-law got a little misty eyed when she opened it so that was very rewarding to see how much she enjoyed the gift.

Of course I used more Prima Flowers on this project but I experimented with altering the flowers with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl which I am now addicted to using on everything that isn't moving !  LOL  The Glimmer Mist adds such a great shine and well, a little glimmer to whatever you spray it on.  It is the next best thing to BLING and you know how I love my BLING ! 

And notice how I tucked in some beautiful Prima lace and one of their awesome gossamer butterflies, a sprinkling of pearls, some gorgeous embossed paper from Aaron Brothers and even some glittered chipboard to enhance the beauty of photos of my lovely daughters and granddaughter.

Here is a close up of the flowers that I altered with the Glimmer Mist...see how awesome these look?  So much better than just plain ole white flowers, don't you think? 

I think this post is long enough....I will be back later to post a few pics of some more fab gifts.

Hope you  found a little INSPIRATION here to today!