A HUGE thank you to all of my sponsors for these fantastic prizes! I am SO grateful to all of you and SO excited for the winners! I omitted all double comments and without further adieu here are the winners!!! All winners have one week to claim their prizes otherwise I will re-draw!
I decided to pull the Peachy Keen Stamps winner from the first Peachy Keen Invitation post I did! A huge thank you Peachy Keen Stamps for the Critter Faces in Mediumto give away!!! So the winner is.........
YAY for Cindy! Please email me your address at CourtsCraftsBlog@gmail.com and I will get your information to Peachy Keen Stamps!!!
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This day I said that I would be giving out the Imaginisce goodie bag full of Imaginisce Embellishments! Thanks Lori! The winner is.......
Robin, I don't have your email address, so please email me at CourtsCraftsBlog@gmail.com and I will get your prize out to you!!! :)
An i-rock, Echo Park Paper, or My Pink Stamper stamps fromPumpkin Spicego to...........
I have emailed you! Tracy won on my blog like 6 months ago.?.! Yay for repeat winners! :)
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The Gypsy Tote Bag donated by Myrel (THANK YOU MYREL) goes to........
I have emailed you!
For those of you that didn't win and a LOT of you expressed interest in buying a tote bag from Myrel, her email address is: myrelf@aol.com
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And the YourStory bought by yours truly goes to........
I have emailed you!
CONGRATULATIONS to all of the winners! I am SO excited for each and every one of you! Thank you to all of my followers for making this so fun and for inspiring me to keep creating every day! You're the best!
Thank you also for all of the well wishes for my grandfather and family. Today has been a good day for him which means it's a good day for all of us. He got transferred from the hospital to the 24 hour care facility today and is hanging on. It is going to be a hard journey, but he is definitely surrounded with love. I am headed to Monique Griffith and Wendy Lawrence's Crop for the Cure tomorrow and then I might get some time to craft before going back down to Monterey, but it might be a little slow on my blog. We shall see. :) I usually find time to squeeze in some crafting time no matter what! :)
This is the last day as a Peachy Keen Guest Designer and it certainly has gone by quickly!!! Thank you SO much to Peachy Keen for having me! I hope you all enjoyed my projects!
This week's Let's Face it Friday challenge is to use a banner on your project or make a banner, etc. Hop on over to Peachy Keen to see the prize that you could win for playing along! It's on my Peachy Keen wish list!
OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :)
Close ups of the banner:
OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :)
OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :)
OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :)
ALL of the paper I used came fromPumpkin Spice! They are all things My Mind's Eye, Echo Park, and so much more! Definitely check them out!
drum roll please.......................................
For my Friday giveaway and the last of my blog-aversary prizes is a YourStory machine! I LOVE my YourStory and bought one just for one of you!!!
Thank you SO much for taking this journey with me! I just started crafting in January of 2010 and from then until now it has been such a wonderful adventure. I have met SO many wonderful people and new friends! You all encourage me every day!
Day 4 already...?... Thank you SO much for all of the support you have shown for my Woodland Critter Party Theme! I am so glad you all are enjoying it!
Naturally you need THANK YOU NOTES as guests are always so generous! So wouldn't this be a fun one to show up in the mail?
I have SUCH a huge treat for you today in the way of the prize you can win. When I went to CHA in January I stayed with Robyn (My Pink Stamper), Karlee, and Tammy Skinner (Creative Critters Cricut Club) - names you probably know. But I also stayed with two fabulous blog-less ladies (we keep trying to get them to start blogs!!!) who are best friends with Tammy. Angela and Myrel.
Now, they are both extremely talented and Myrel makes Gypsy bags!!! They are SO adorable. This is the one she made for me (I JUST LOVE IT) and it's on its way to me right now so that is not my Gypsy, it's Myrel's.
My Gypsy (named Benjamin Franklin because I bought it for $100) has a green cover - and you know how I feel about green - so Myrel made me this one with the green wording!! Benjamin is going to feel SO loved in this! Isn't this the cutest thing that you ever did see???
Now, she has offered to make one for one of YOU!!! I couldn't be more excited about this giveaway! THANK YOU MYREL!!! If you aren't the super lucky person who wins this gift, then you can contact Myrel at myrelf@aol.com about ordering one for yourself.
Remember to leave a comment! Join me tomorrow for the project that definitely took the longest to make!
Today I have some fun cupcake toppers for your party! I wish I could take credit for these cupcakes, but they are courtesy of Whole Foods. Their red velvet cupcakes are AMAZing. Go right now, drive, get one, come back, and then read the post while eating pure yumminess. I bought these just to stage the shot... really... I did... and then I ate one the minute I finished taking this picture... all for the love of you all. :)
Can't you just see the kids saying, "I want the bird." "I want the hedgehog." "I want the skunk!"?
OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :)
I used the Critter Faces - PK755 in large. For the bird eye, I simply masked the rest of the face to get the bright eye. I liked the way it looked.
Don't forget to leave a comment to have a chance to win the PK794 stamps in medium! Today's giveaway will be something of my choosing from Pumpkin Spice - my sponsor and my favorite online store! I'm considering buying an i-rock (because I am on the Imaginisce DT), or an Echo Park Paper Pack (because I LOVE their paper), or a set of My Pink Stamper stamps. What do YOU think? Leave what you would like to win most in your post and I might just make that come true!
Part 2 of our Woodland Party Theme this week is FAVORS! Every party needs favors! I always try to think of something that's inexpensive and still personable. Read further to see what I made this out of!!!
This idea came from my good friend June (who doesn't remember saying this) but I was bouncing ideas off her and she said "log" and I thought "toilet paper roll"! Okay, so they don't seem like they should go together, but they do!!! I'll show you!!!
OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :)
That, my friends, is a toilet paper roll covered in paper and embellished. The ribbon tied around it will keep any candy inside of the log! How good would this look with gummy worms coming out! Okay, maybe that's just me, but I think it would!
Design Memory Craft contacted me and offered to send me product and offered two giveaways if I would review their product! Today I used their Gelato that was included in the Mix and Match Sampler for the cheeks of my mushrooms. I used the blender that comes in their essentials kit to blend out the cheeks. I really liked the result!
This is what the Mix and Match sampler looked like that they are going to give away to two of you!
This is what the Color Gelatos and Clear Stamp set looks like that they are also going to give away to two of you!
There is a LOT more to play with that they sent me, but this week, I will be using them on Peachy Keen Critters. Going forward, I can see a lot more uses for these and will share with you as I go along. If you would like to read more about their products and the company (which just launched at CHA in January) then go HERE.
Now, don't forget that I am giving away a set ofCritter Faces in MEDIUM this week but I won't tell you what post it is going to be on! :) I am also giving away TWO sets of theDesign Memory Craft: Mix and Match Sampler as well as the Color Gelatos and Clear Stamp! I think you're getting the drill by now! Just leave me a comment on my blog all week and I will draw a random winner of this FABulous set!!!
Check the post I left earlier for another giveaway opportunity for Imaginisce goodies! Just leave a comment on every post this week between Monday and Friday and you will have amazing chances to win things!
Also, if you feel so inclined to put my blinkie on your blog, I would be thrilled! :)
Hello! Welcome to day 2 of my blog-aversary week giveaways!!!
Today at the Imaginisce Blog we are showing you even more inspiration on what to do with the new i-rock accessories! Today I am showing you what you can do with the teardrop shape! :)
Remember, Imaginisce is giving away a WHOLE lot of i-rock bling on their blog and I am giving away a grab bag of Imaginisce goodies donated by Imaginisce (THANKS LORI!!!) HERE on my blog today as the prize! So leave me a comment to be entered! Come back again tomorrow for more inspiration and another giveaway chance! I'll post all of the winners when the week is up!
Just a side note, I would be tickled pink if you decide to put my blinkie on your blog. This is NOT required to win, just if you enjoy my work it would be so nice!
Now, I am usually not one for making this blog so personal as I don't think you all should have to "deal with me". And I want you to come here and feel inspired and like it's a place of creativity and refuge. But, I usually try to get back to all of your comments and visit you and I'm afraid I can't do that this week. My grandfather is very ill and has been for a while and this looks like we're near the end. So I've only come home for a couple days to re-group and do some laundry and then I will be back down in Monterey supporting my family. So I won't have time to write back to you. But please know that I love every one of your comments and appreciate you taking the time to leave them. And if you're a new follower, welcome and I am so tickled pink that you like my work! I hope everyone is healthy and happy. My hugs to you all!
I am celebrating my one year blogaversary this week so make sure to leave comments every day as there are many prizes to be won!!! Thank you so much to Peachy Keen for having me this week and I am really looking forward to sharing with you these projects!
I wanted to do something different here and right when I found out I was accepted I knew I was going to do a themed birthday party! I chose Woodland Critters for the theme so I hope you enjoy getting an idea of what your party could look like if you did it yourself!
Of course every party starts out with an INVITATION!
For this card, I wanted the bee to be buzzing by someone's house (hence the potted plants) to invite them to the woods! So I wanted to blend the two ideas. I hope you like it!
OUT FOR PUBLICATION!
I used Peachy Keen Stamps Critter Faces in Large for this bee:
Design Memory Craft contacted me and offered to send me product and offered two giveaways if I would review their product! Today I used their Gelato that was included in the Mix and Match Sampler for the cheeks of my Bee (I will also be using it tomorrow). So far, I like it! I used the blender that comes in their essentials kit to blend out the cheeks. I really liked the result!
This is what the Mix and Match sampler looked like that they are going to give away to two of you!
This is what the Color Gelatos and Clear Stamp set looks like that they are also going to give away to two of you!
There is a LOT more to play with that they sent me, but this week, I will be using them on Peachy Keen Critters. Going forward, I can see a lot more uses for these and will share with you as I go along. If you would like to read more about their products and the company (which just launched at CHA in January) then go HERE.
Now, I am giving away a set of Critter Faces in MEDIUM this week but I won't tell you what post it is going to be on! :) I am also giving away TWO sets of the Design Memory Craft: Mix and Match Sampler as well as the Color Gelatos and Clear Stamp! I think you're getting the drill by now! Just leave me a comment on my blog all week and I will draw a random winner of this FABulous set!!! These wont be the only prizes for the week! They are just the teasers! :) But you know at least 3 of the prizes now! :)
So my husband and I never had video games growing up. They simply weren't allowed. And that's how we'll do it with our children someday too... But for now we are child-less and I bought him an x-box kinect for Christmas.
Now, I have never been into video games at all.... but I got my husband Halo Reach with his x-box and thought I would try to play it. We started and finished the game together in 8 hours over two days. I felt like SUCH a nerd! I won some serious geeky wifey points though!
Anyway, his controller is black and mine is white and I thought it needed to be a little more girly and a little more "me". So I blinged it out using my i-rock by Imaginisce and the new pink gems! I am so excited to share my little project with you! He's even considering letting me bling out his black one with the new black smooth glam rocks!
Welcome to our Mother's Day blog hop. We are making some great projects that will hopefully inspire you to make some beautiful crafts for whomever you cherish on Mother's Day. Jamie invited me to participate and I am so honored to do so! :) Thank you Jamie!
If you came here from Kristen's blogthen you are in the right place. If not start at the beginning at Jamie's blog for all the wonderful projects lined up for you today.
Your next stop on the hop is Sonya! Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a beautiful day! Next week I am the guest designer for Peachy Keen Stamps so be sure to check back because I am going to be having lots of blog candyas I'll be celebrating my blog-aversary!
I am SO thrilled and honored to be a guest designer for my good friends Monique and Wendy! Pop on over to their blog: Monique Griffith Designs and say hello there too if you would like! Monique sells these FABULOUS layout and card kits that the 4 women come up with. They are ever-so talented and I know you will feel inspired there too!
I will be going to Monique's Crop for the Cure on May 1st and hopefully some of their future events! If you are in the San Francisco - Sacramento area you should definitely check them out! They are worth traveling for! Monique holds regular classes too if you are interested!
If you are going to be at the Crop for the Cure, say hello! I'll probably be one of the only redheads there! Well, that depends on what color Monique's hair is going to be... but something tells me pink! :)
Thank you ladies for having me today!
I wanted to make something Easter themed since Easter is this Sunday so I hope you enjoy some last minute inspiration and I hope you get to spend some wonderful quality time with your family.
Monique, Wendy, and I are HUGE fans of Echo Park so I was excited to pull out their Springtime collection and have some fun!
Wendy and I are on My Pink Design Team together so I wanted to use some of Robyn's stamps as well. As per usual, I picked up everything from Pumpkin Spice! She is having a sale this weekend - If you buy 4 of Robyn's stamp sets, it's $60! That's $15 each! What a steal! Coupon code is: HappyEaster!
I can't believe I didn't fit any Imaginisce on there! The bling queen is going to be so disappointed in me! (Wendy is the self-proclaimed "bling queen"!) Okay, next time I will BLING it out!
Designer's Notes
I used my Stickles to put little dots in the middle of all of the polka dots so that it sparkles. It's a fun way to make a big print look like a smaller print.
Who says you can't have two types and colors of ribbon on one project. Have fun! It's YOUR creation!
Today we Honeybees are cross-pollinating (get it!?!) with the Jingle Belles thanks to my fabulously sweet friend June!! She is a guest designer for them and we have Lauren who guest designed on Monday for us! They are a couple of ladies dedicated to making Christmas cards all year long so that it doesn't overwhelm you come holiday season! So they have a different challenge every week. This week's challenge is to use a die cut! Mine is of course Cricut made! Hop over to Jingle Belles to play along and hop over to Betty Bee's Buzz to play with us too! Two chances to win! :)
I have been doing SO much crafting recently and just keep thinking about how blessed I am that I have such a supportive and encouraging group of friends and family! That includes YOU out there in bloggy world!
SORRY! OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :)
The picture above didn't show the Glossy Accents so I went to take another picture and accidentally hit the button and this picture resulted and for some reason I really like it! :)
SORRY! OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :)
ALL that you see that made up my card came from PUMPKIN SPICE except for the twine, glossy accents, liquid applique, cartridge, and embossing folder. But all of the paper and embellishments came from the two My Mind's Eye Christmas lines from last year and they are both on sale at Pumpkin Spice along with Meadowlark!
SORRY! OUT FOR PUBLICATION! :)
Now hop on over to Betty Bee's Buzz and Jingle Belles too and play along with us! I thought I would have a hard time getting in the Christmas mood, but I had a blast making this card!
Good morning! Today My Pink Designers are showing off favors using My Pink Stamper stamps! :)
Here is my favor box which I used for a present for one of my husband's friends. We tucked an Amazon gift certificate in there and voila! Easy guy gift.
I actually picked up the phrase (which I say all too often) of "woot woot (as I write it)" from the friend that we gave this to. He couldn't believe I had a stamp that said it! Way to go Robyn!
Designer's notes: The clear stamps are great because I simply took half of the stamp, put it on my acrylic block and wrapped the second "whoot" around the block so that it wouldn't get stamped. That's how I got the words in the form that they are in.
I didn't even notice that I hadn't posted recently and then I woke up to an email from my grammy asking if I was alright because I hadn't posted since Wednesday! OOOPS!!! Rest assured tomorrow there will be a post going up for My Pink Design Team and it should be fun to see what the girls came up with!
Friday I have the immense pleasure of being a guest designer for Monique Griffith and Wendy Lawrence (two FABulous ladies) and on Saturday I am part of a blog hop! Whew! :) So hang in there - the inspiration will be returning full throttle!
Next week is my Peachy Keen Guest Design week and I am busy getting everything ready for that so that you have SO much inspiration! Also there will be a giveaway here on my blog! The Imaginisce new hot rocks and glam rocks is that week too so I'll be doubling up on a few of the days!
Hey all! Gimme Clips (a sister company to Imaginisce) is having HUGE giveaways this week! Today's is an i-rock package valued at over $117! That's a lot of gems! So head over there to check it out!
Welcome to the Little Cutie release party for boys!
Make sure to hop over to the Imaginisce blog to see all of the wonderful inspiration we have brought you!
We have a new little cousin in the family and his name is Braydon so this will be headed his way soon! But I wanted to share it with you first! I took the block shaped card from the Wrap it Up cartridge and used the hide/contour feature to hide the letter "A". Next I took the "B" from Storybook and made it the appropriate size and slanted it so that it would look like it belonged on that side of the cube. The rest was easy peasy! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at any time!
I have to say that I had the HARDEST time putting the canvas stickers on this card as they are SO adorable that I wanted to hoard them forever. But we all know that doesn't get us anywhere so I just had to use them. Check them out! They are so darling.
This card was inspired by my sweet friend June. Over at Betty Bee's Buzz where I am a DT member, we had a baby week last week and June used the little lamb from Wall Decor and More. I had forgotten about it and just think it is darling. So she inspired me to pull it out and use it!
I have to say that I am very excited about this card. Usually I don't put too much stuff on a card, but this one has a lot of detail.
****SCROLL DOWN FOR THE IMAGINISCE LITTLE CUTIE GIRL RELEASE*** By the way, I just have to say a HUGE thank you to those that left me the sweetest messages ever about getting published! Thank you!!!
Hello all! I think this will be the largest blog post I have ever written!
Grab a cup of coffee or tea or hot cocoa, snuggle up, and enjoy!
Roberts Crafts so kindly asked me to be a Guest Designer for today! I am so thrilled to be here! Thank you so much to Roberts Crafts and to Imaginisce for this opportunity!
It's springtime and that means flowers and sweet smells and GARDENPARTIES! Naturally I wanted to use my Garden Party line by Imaginisce to create the things needed in order to throw your own garden party and I hope this inspires you to do so!
I am going to provide step by step instruction and under all of the pictures and instructions there will be a recipe list that links to all of the products used. Enjoy!
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First up you need an INVITATION:
I cut this out on my Gypsy using two layers and the 6x6 paper pack from Imaginisce's Garden Party™ using the Mother's Day Bouquet Cartridge™.
This first layer is the card base. I cut it out of white card stock. I welded the shapes together to make a shape card that would still fit inside of an A2 sized envelope. If you have the Gypsy and Mother's Day Bouquet and would like the cut file, please email me at CourtsCraftsBlog@gmail.com and I would be happy to send it to you!
This next layer is everything that went on top of the white base. It is all cut from the Imaginsce's Garden Party 6x6 Paper Pad.
This is what it looked like after it was cut out (don't mind my dirty mat!).
You can see the beginning of the assembly starting to take place, but I have a video for you using the i-top to make the centers for my flowers out of brads. This is what was used:
Here is another video on how I used the i-bond™ from Imaginisce to attach the flower to the card base:
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Next up you need to have NAMEPLACECARDS
These could also VERY easily be transformed into name tags using the accessories for the i-top - the badge daddies which have pins on the back! You don't even need the front, just use your i-bond to attach the name tag to the pin! I digress... There are so many creative ideas out there! :)
I wanted to make something quick and easy for this. This was my first time using Hampton Art Stamps and they were great! They stamped wonderfully and so clear!
Instructions:
Cut a 6x4" piece of paper from the Garden Party Brambleberry Blossoms™ pattern. Score and fold in half.
Cut a 3 7/8x 2 7/8 piece of white card stock. (I wish I would have made a bigger border so you could see more of the patterned paper so you may want to cut this at 3.75x2.75")
Using Hampton Arts Stamps "A Dandelion Garden" and "A Bird Sings" stamp your images onto the white cardstock and use white embossing powder to heat emboss them both.
Using SmoochSpritz in Cosmo Pink spray the white card stock generously. Use an ink smudger to move the ink around quickly as it will dry quickly.
Adhere to card and write the name of the person who will be sitting there.
Here is what my table looks like mid-project and mid-decision making!
Instructions:
I cut 5 round shadow banner shapes using Birthday Bash at 4 inches. Make sure the real dial size is off.
Then I cut 5 round banner shapes (not the shadow this time) out of white cardstock also at 4".
I used Core'dinations card stock for the burgundy shadow of the letters spelling out "Party" using the Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art Cartridge™ (Did you know that the Cake cartridges work perfectly in your Cricut too and are designed for that? I love them!) at 2".
Next cut the letters again with the shadow off this time out of the Garden Party collection at 2" (real dial size off).
Use adhesive to attach both banner to the banner shadow and letter to the letter shadow.
Choose various die cuts from the Garden Party Collection. I used flowers from both packages of die cuts.
Use your d-stress tool to sand off all bumps and distress edges of the die cuts. Here is a video showing that:
8. Adhere various die cuts to different parts of the banner.
9. Using foam dimensionals adhere letters to banner segments.
10. Using your Crop-a-dile, attach eyelets to banner segments.
11. Using the Garden Party Collection Ribbons, cut segments and tie bows between each segment to connect them.
12. Using your i-rock by Imaginisce and the swirls stencil, attach pink gems where you would like them.
Here is a video of me attaching my gems to this project:
You simply must have FAVORBOXES for your guests and these do just the trick!
I used Wrap it Up Cartridge for the favor box and thank you card (coming up!).
Instructions:
Cut the gift box bottom and top with real dial size off at 11".
Score using the Martha Stewart Score Board and fold.
Adhere the grass to the fence part.
I added twine for stability and color.
A friend showed me how to take something she called "skittles" and turn them into bees. She gave me some of her own so I'm so sorry I don't know where to get them. I do know where to get candy skittles though! Love them! Oh wait, there I go off track again.... I simply used a black thin tip Sharpie to draw stripes on the underside of the yellow gem. I adhered it to the white card stock and used a thin tip pen to draw the head, antennae, and bee trail.
Bee was from a friend who showed me how to turn the little yellow gems into bees.
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Finally, because your guests were so magnanimous and brought you such nice things because you were such a lovely hostess, you need a THANKYOUCARD.
Instructions:
Cut fence from Wrap it Up at 3".
Hit the "Fit to Length" button on your Cricut and then set the dial to 4.25". This will cut the image at a corresponding size height to 4.25" long. This is one of my favorite feature buttons on the Cricut.
Cut a 2.75"x 4 1/8" piece of both the green Garden Party paper and a piece of white cardstock.
Adhere the green piece to the bottom half of the card. However, do not put adhesive at the top corners of the piece as a ribbon will be adhered behind it.
Using the method described in the Name Place Card section above, heat emboss the words "thanks a bunch" using Hampton Art Clear Stamps "We Make a Great Pair". Then using the same color of Smooch Spritz in Cosmo Pink, blend in entirely.
Adhere pink layer to card being sure not to put adhesive in the bottom corners as the ribbon will be going behind this layer.
Using the Imaginisce: Garden Party Ribbons, cut a piece 4.5" long and adhere behind green layer and behind pink layer at the bottom bisecting the card.
Ink around edges of fence with brown ink.
Adhere fence to card using foam dimensionals.
Attach a Garden Party Sticker Stacker to the top left of the fence.
Using your petal roller, i-bond, and d-stress, create the Roly Rosie that is on the card. Here is a video showing you how I did it:
12. Add the bees using the same process as was described in the favor box section. You're done!
That's it! Thank you so much for joining me today! I hope you enjoyed the tutorials! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at CourtsCraftsBlog@gmail.com.
A HUGE thank you to Roberts Crafts for having me today!
I receive products as compensation for being part of various Design Teams. My assessment of them will always be my own opinion only and will be true to how I feel about the products. Ask me if you have any questions! :)
