PI's are Sugar Sweet!

Happy Monday!! Well, Monday's not such a bad thing when it means MFT Pure Innocence Previews right?

Oh, and today, it is a long weekend in the USA, so I'm especially happy to have an extra day to hang out with my husband and the boys!

This month, one of the PI's being released is this adorable little girl with a giant lollypop. You remember the kind that you'd see at a carnival that your mother would never let you have, right?

I recently saw this adorable pail at my local craft store, its a tall and skinny pail (usually I see the squat ones, wider and shorter) I grabbed my luscious new felt from MFT, as well as my Jumbo Scalloped Dienamics, and several sweet as candy lookin' papers to alter up the pail.

When I'm making an altered pail, I always like to sew my paper bands together. You know, sewing for function, not just because it is cute.

I also sewed the felt scallops directly to the patterned paper to hold everything securely in place.

Now, to add to that sugary sweet feeling, I grabbed a self adhesive pearl swirl, and added it directly over the felt, and the twill bow. In addition to adding a touch of whimsy, it also has the added benefit of anchoring my little twill bow in place.

Sweet little PI's dress is paper pieced, and her sugary lolly has been given a generous coat of Glaze Pen. I grabbed a pink button and stitched it into place, securing a bow around the twill.

The lollies are securely tucked inside this container, and I altered up the top of this little giftie. The sentiment reads "You're too sweet" but I replaced the word "too" with the number two using Bling 'Bers as well as my MFT Clear Crystal Adornments.

Be sure to stop by Kim's Blog today after 11 am for a full list of designers who are participating in previews today! Have a wonderfully, sugary sweet day today everyone!

Don't forget to check in on the MFT Guest Designer Challenge. You will want to be SURE that you play along in this month's challenge for your chance to win the entire July release, and participate in daily previews with the Design Team!

Stop by the MFT Member Company Forum and check it out!

Reading and Writing Gift Set

I can't believe that the school year blew by so quickly!  I'm so excited for fun adventures with the boys new bikes, and going to the pool club, but I also want to be sure that my little guy doesn't loose all the great skills he's learned this year.

I wanted to make a special card for him to celebrate all that he's done this year, and to let him know how really special he is to me.  

In a way, he's a little bit sad that school is already finished.....  He had a great teacher and an amazing class this year.  He loves his friends, and really has a great time at school each day.  Isn't that sweet?

I stamped Ben Paper Dolls to an MFT Perfect Paper Panel and colored in just his head and neck. Then I stamped the super hero costume onto a separate piece of paper, colored it with Copic Markers and trimmed it out.  Using a quickie glue pen, I paper pieced his outfit right in place.   A fun trick I discovered is that by doing this, I pulled up on his cape to give it some added dimension. I investigated all sorts of camera angles to show you, but it didn't work.  So, let me just say that when you see the card in real life, the cape is actually billowing out behind Billy in the breeze. its pretty cool, even if I do say so myself. Giggle.  

For the inside, I added the chipboard letters "SUPER" because I think that's exactly what my little one is! 

I love that when we read stories at night that he can now read a few pages, then I read a few pages.  He's worked really hard on his handwriting to make everything nice and neat.  He loves to draw and write stories.  

I saw these fabulous composition notebooks from Mead that are specifically developed for K-2nd grade (you can find them HERE.) I just knew that I had to pick a few up.  The top of the page is empty for my little artist to draw a picture, and then there are the dotted lines for penmanship.  

I'm going to have him keep a journal every day over the summer.  I thought it would be a great activity to keep track of all the fun things we'll do, and to keep all his new skills fresh!  I also love that this ties in so nicely with the book we're reading right now  "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid"

So... that means, he needs a matching  book mark to help keep his place!  Right?  

I stamped another image from the Ben Paper Dolls set and punched it out with a nestie circle.  It fit right inside this fun Scenic Route die cut.  

I actually hand sewed a button right through the die cut and through the ribbon pull for extra security. I didn't think a pop dot would be strong enough for repeated use.  I love the flexibility of clear stamps, I placed my sentiment "You Rock!" from Essential Sentiments on the block in a curve to match with the shape of the circular diecut.    

I hope you liked my little Reading and Writing Gift Set! Thanks for stopping by today!

e-girl Notes

Here's a little notebook I created for a blogging friend using a DVD tin which I altered with one of my very favorite new paper collections "Urban Prairie" from Basic Grey.  The stamp set is "Who's that e-girl" from My Favorite Things. 

Lots of paper piecing possibilities for this set.  I pieced the skirt, couch and wallpaper.  What a girly fun room is this?

The sentiment "Notes" is stamped with my Just Rite Rectangular stamper and the Brayton Font kit.  

I adore these felt flowers from Petaloo that I found in the My Favorite Things online store.  I've had fun popping them onto projects here and there.  They come in such a variety of fun colors, each package has a variety of sizes, and I love how durable these flowers are.  I must say paper flowers worry me that they'll be destroyed before they get to their destination!  

Inside is a little notepad that I trimmed down to size with the help of my carl cutter.  The left hand side has a little pocket to tuck in receipts, or lists etc.  Edited to add: Just a quick note that I certainly did not come up with this fun idea myself.... I remember lots of people making these around this time last year. Most notably I remember this sweet one that my friend Jenn made last year!!! That's why it pays to read a million blogs and stock up on alterables right??

Are you looking forward to some new MFT in the new year?  Our January launch party will be Wednesday, January 7th. And, got a few new samples to share, one of which is my new favorite card ever.  I'm tickled PINK to share it with you.  Previews will begin on Monday, January 5th!!

Ski Slope Preschool Sweets

I ordinarily wouldn't be posting twice on one day, but time is running out for me to share all my holiday projects!!  If you're feeling the pinch, both from a time perspective, and of course financially, you can quickly and easily whip up some treats for all those little gifts you need to give this time of year.

I feel badly that Stampin Up has been so neglected over here.  So, here's a little more SU love for you all!

Since I of course have LOTS of designer paper, I was able to put together these cute little tins and matching gift cards just using up some scraps I had from older cards, and a stamp from a set that I've used, but I just hadn't cut into this particular stamp yet.  This paper is my very new favorite, "Ski Slope."  

I used the hostess set "Punches Three" for the sentiment on the little tin.  I stamped it with Baja Breeze ink on the same color paper then punched it with my scalloped square punch.  Then stamped the same image with Baja to Whisper White cardstock, and hand trimmed out just that center portion.  With my hand punch I added a teeny hole to one corner, then threaded a little linen thread bow to hold the tag in place.  These will be filled with chocolate squares courtesy of my friend Audra!!

The card is actually a pop up gift card holder, which was a recent Splitcoast Technique Challenge.  I used "Big on Christmas" and my Stampin Up Markers.  Since my bucket o glitter was handy, I glittered up the words so that you didn't notice my Ruby Red marker isn't exactly a perfect match for the Riding Hood Red cardstock.  I stamped the tree separately and popped it up with a dimensional.  This will hold a Dunkin Donuts gift card because heaven knows, preschool teachers need caffeine!

I'm going in on the preschool gifts with some local friends, I'm making the items, another friend bought the chocolate, another friend is running the errand to pick up the gift card and we're all going to split the cost.  

Hope you're making good progress against your to do lists!!  

DVD Tins - Altered Album

I showed just a sneek peek on Friday night of a little "something" I'd worked on for the Gina K launch last week.  One of the Gina's newest products are DVD tins.  In addition to being a great way to store the larger sets - they're also fantastic alterables!

I had seen a tutorial by Julie Buhler on Splitcoast a few weeks ago, and thought it was such a fun idea!  Enter my goodies from Gina K and it was a perfect excuse to put together a little photo tin that I'll fill with this years Christmas Memories!  I love that since it is made out of tin, it will be nice and durable since I (very affectionatley) am prone to calling my boys "Thing One" and "Thing Two."

This beautiful sleigh is from Rupa's latest set: The Magic of Christmas.  I stamped the image directly to my ivory cardstock then again to a piece of scrap paper.  I colored the sleigh with my R35 copic marker, then applied a coat of Diamond Glaze and let it dry overnight. 

I also used Gina K's new self adhesive rhinestones for the centers of some of the pointsettas on the designer paper I used.  The inside is a clear envelope album finished off with jumbo eyelets and a wide grosgrain bow.  

This was so easy and fun to make... I could see making lots of these for Christmas presents.  Hey, if you're on my shopping list, please disregard that comment and look really really surprised when you get one.. okay?

Have a GREAT day!

A Good Egg....

I've finally depleted my stash of Stampendous Pails. Looks like I need to head back over to Eclectic Paperie to pick up some more!

My last two were used to make Easter pails for my boys. I picked up the For Peep's Sake paper that has been all over "blogland" lately. Julie Masse made a bunch of cute cards that pushed me right over the edge! LOL!

I covered the outside of the pails with three different patterned strips of paper, and finished them off with a length of Stampin Up Striped Grosgrain Bashful Blue Ribbon.

Using the super cute Stampendous Clear Pail Topper (Thanks Daisy and Joy!!!) I stamped the basket for the top of the pail, and then masked it using Eclipse Tape. I stamped the egg three times and used the masking again to get two of them in behind.

I colored the tops in first with my copic markers, then added some stickles to the tops of the eggs. Then I aquapainted over the copics with my SU crayons and filled in the center of each of the eggs. The background was looking so terribly white, so I used my bashful blue crayon and an aquapainter to fill all that in softly.

I know the kids will mostly like what's inside them, but I really do think that little details make all the difference. Plus, I really just LOVED making and filling them.

What's inside? Divvies jelly beans and chocolate bunnies, and peeps!

That's Mine!

The other day, I showed a sample of the "What's In Your Tin 2" set from Gina K Designs and made a little tin purse. I also wanted to show you a quick, and yes, totally EASY project using a mini composition notebook instead of an altoid tin!

You can pick these up super cheaply at walmart and I just so happened to have one on hand the other day. I just knew that my eldest would love having a little notebook for drawings in the card, or up in his room. And anything that he can personalize he loves because "That's Mine" and "I want that!" are the most frequently heard comments in my home!

I had some leftover scraps of Scenic Route paper in his favorite colors that was just the right size for this book. To begin, I traced the front and back covers onto the scrap paper. Remember, trace onto the backside of the paper with the book face down (like the letters I showed you last week) then trim it out so that your pencil marks won't show.

I adhered the front and back covers first with my SU Greeting Glue, smoothed out all the bubbles and set it aside to dry before tackling the spine.

I then cut a coordinating piece of designer paper for the spine. I just held a piece around to gauge the width I think it was 2.5 inches wide and measured the height to be the same as the cover pieces. I adhered the greeting glue just to the edges and applied it to the spine, and held it a moment to let the glue set. I then added a quick strip of black grosgrain ribbon over the seam.

To create the personalized label, I just inked up the border of my choice (there are two in each of the sets) and stamped it on designer paper. Then I inked up the sentiment, stamped that inside the border and trimmed out the label. I then taped it to a piece of solid black cardstock and hand cut a small mat all the way around.

Let me tell you, my son literally ripped this from my hands as soon as he saw it and it is now proudly occupying a space next to his bed.

Baby Letters

Okay, I hope that you are not all tired of the baby projects? This is the last one for a while.

A family friend is welcoming a new baby into her home and had asked me how to create altered letters. I said that while it is super easy, that she had enough other things to do and that I'd just complete the project for her so she could cross it off her list.

First, my friend Jane and I selected Stampin Up's "Spring Fling" designer paper as the best match for the nursery. I then found these great paper mache letters at Joann Superstore near my home. I loved that they were script, versus the chunky standard alphabet I've seen to date.

I then selected which piece I wanted to use on each letter and had my friend approve the selections and was ready to get started.

I traced each letter onto the backside of the paper. To do this correctly, lay the pattern you want on the front of the letter face down on the table. Then lay your letter face down on the table as well. You will be tracing the letter backwards on the backside of the paper. Then carefully trim out each letter, trimming just INSIDE the pencil line.

I applied a coat of Making Memories Scrapbook Paint in Manilla to each of the letters on the front and on all of the sides for an even base. I then left them overnight to dry.

To apply the designer paper to the letters, I used mod podge. You want a thin, but even coat across the whole front of the letter. Apply the paper and smooth over the entire thing, all the way out to the edges to eliminate any bumps or bubbles. I keep a good eye on them as they are drying as well to smooth out any bumps, bubbles or lifts all along the edge and smooth them out.

I then let the glue dry for about 30 minutes. Once dry, I applied another thin and even coat, this time over the top of the letters. Again, smooth out any bubbles or bumps while the glue is still wet, and watch the items closely during the drying process to smooth out any that might develop.

I left the letters to dry overnight. The next evening, I sanded all of the edges with a white filing block and they're good to go!

Can you even believe I didn't take a final product of the letters before they went out? I'm hoping my sister will grab a picture for me the next time she's over visiting with the baby!