Dress up your door

Yarn Wreath Tutorial.

Crumb Cake

Who would've thought?

Coconut Sugar Scrub

A simple, yet luxurious gift. Don't forget to make one for yourself!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Father’s Day cards with Stampendous; Part 2

Here’s another Father’s day card made with the Stampendous Thanks Dad set:

I used the Man of the House paper again, and the same paper piecing technique on the tie. Card base is Old Olive and….well, one of the blues, lol.  I didn’t look at the label, I just saw that it would match, so I’m not exactly sure, but I think it might be Brocade Blue.

I just love this paper!

I used the WRMK eyelets again and added some orange.

 

 

 

I stamped the sentiment on the inside, and this shot shows all the layering on the front.

 

 

 

 

 

This card is available at A Paper Buffet.

Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Father’s Day cards with Stampendous: Part 1

Hello Friends!

I know, it’s been a long time!  I’ve been super busy with work and haven’t had much time (or energy) to keep up, but my plan is to bombard you with posts over the next few days to make up for it :)

These next posts will be short, but will showcase my highly productive Victoria day long weekend.  It included one rainy Saturday, but it was perfect for a marathon crafty session.

I needed to make some Father’s day cards for the stores, so I’ll be starting off with those first.  As I’ve said before, I typically struggle with making masculine cards, but let me tell you, when you have an awesome stamp and some great paper, they come together really well!

I’ve learned to keep the layout simple and it seems to be working.  I made a mountain of Father’s day cards with my new awesome Stampendous “Thanks Dad” stamp set.  I really love this one, and it can be used for birthdays too!

Here’s Part 1:

The card base is SU Chocolate Chip (my fav) and matted with Old Olive.  I found some awesome paper by Stephanie Blais- Man of the House.  Isn’t that pattern awesome?

 

I stamped the tie stamp in Staz-On black and then paper pieced the tie.  I just love it!

 

 

 

I think I struggle with masculine cards because I don’t know what embellishments to use.  You can’t really go reaching for ribbon, or Prima flowers and rhinestone brads for your ‘manly’ cards, right?  But these eyelets really fit the bill.  They’re from We Are Memory Keepers- Earth Escape and match Old Olive pretty well.

I’m really happy with how this card turned out.  You can purchase this card at A Paper Buffet, along with all the other Father’s day cards I’ll be sharing over the next few days.

Happy Wednesday!

Ciao for now,

Monday, May 10, 2010

Custom Thank you cards for Etsy Seller KarinSF

After chatting back and forth on Twitter, Karin, owner of Etsy store KarinSF asked if I would be interesting in creating some mini thank you cards she could send out with her orders.

I have worked with some other sellers before, and jumped at the opportunity again.  Karin asked if I could incorporate her banner pattern from her shop into the card design.  Now this was something new! Karin also requested that the cards reflect the vintage and feminine nature of her shops (she also sells couture items in San Fransisco, CA.).

The banner background is a lovely floral pattern, and Karin has adapted it to Sepia tones to keep it soft.  I knew immediately I wanted to distress the edges of the cards, and thought maybe some buttons would work as well.  After a few versions, the buttons were scrapped (we had to keep the cards as flat as possible for when they would be mailed) and choose some light ribbon and a small “thanks” tag.

Here’s what we came up with:

I love that we combined all the elements of Karin’s brand into the mini thank you card.

These are mini cards- 3.5” long by 2.5” high- perfect for a little handwritten note, and will accommodate a standard business card tucked inside.

Karin was absolutely delightful to work with.  I would not hesitate to recommend her as a seller.  Karin is a very talented knitter and has ventured into jewelry making with success. You can visit her Etsy store KarinSF and I’m positive you will find something you love.

If you would like customer thank you cards for your own shop, feel free to leave a comment with your email, or send me an Etsy convo and we can come up with a design perfect for your brand.

Happy Monday!

Ciao for now,

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Small Wonder

I’ve had quite a few requests lately for baby cards, but most requests have been for neutral cards.  It was a nice change of pace to make a baby girl card for a customer and know it was ok to use pink.

I found some Bo Bunny paper I had left from Valentine’s day and paired it with SU Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink.  I used Very Vanilla for the main image, white was just a bit too bright.

The sentiment is SU, and I really have no idea if it’s meant for baby cards, but I think it fits perfectly.

The little footprint stamps are from my stash, I just love ‘em!

 

The Pretty in Pink ribbon is layered over some dark chocolate satin ribbon from Michaels.

 

 

 

Happy Thursday!

Ciao for now,

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Junior Jr. Mint Cupcakes- Inspired by The Busty Baker

I’ve become a little obsessed with food blogs, and mostly baking blogs since I started my 60 day intense workout regime.  In order to have the proper fuel for my body to get through those workouts, I need to eat clean.  Which means no processed food, no refined sugar or white flour; basically no junk.  So I look and drool all over the baking recipes and incredible photographs of the food I’m not eating.

I’ve been following @bustybaker on Twitter for a little while now, (mostly because her avatar looked delicious) and when I checked out her awesome blog, I had to find the source of the avatar…Mint Filled Brownie Cupcakes. 

This was one recipe I had to make; so I adapted it to fit within my daily calorie allowance, and the sweet tooth that’s not going away.  I can trick it with some fat free, no sugar added 60 calorie Chocolate Jell-O pudding, but that only goes so far.

DSC03006I have these great mini silicone cupcake cups which make bite-size cupcakes.  I figured I could freeze most of the mini cupcakes, and keep some for some bite-size sweetness.

 

I also remembered that the last time I made mini cupcakes using a regular cupcake recipe, I ran out of mini cupcakes, made 12 regular cupcakes, and a mini loaf pan.  That would just be bad news on my “eat clean” routine.

So, I cheated. I picked up a Dr. Oetker’s Shaker cupcakes; which only make 6 regular size cupcakes, so I wouldn’t have a boat-load of batter.  The nutritional information was actually better than regular boxed cake-mix, and better than a homemade cupcake batter with butter, sugar and all the good stuff.

Plus, these are fun to make. Add milk to the container and shake-shake-shake your booty around the kitchen and in 2 minutes, you’ve got rich, velvety chocolate batter.

 

I poured a small amount of batter in each cup, then added one tiny Jr. Mint.  The Busty Baker’s recipe uses York Peppermint Patties, but of course, they wouldn’t fit in the mini cupcake cups.

And besides, "Who's gonna turn down a Junior Mint? It's chocolate, it's peppermint -- it's delicious!" (sorry, I couldn’t resist the famous Kramer quote).

I added more batter on top, and set them into the oven to bake.  It took about 18 minutes to bake under a watchful eye.

 

 

 

They looked simply perfect! I couldn’t wait to taste and see how the Jr. Mint held up in the middle.

I wasn’t sure if it would hold it’s shape like the peppermint patty did.

 

 

You can see where the Jr. Mint melted in the middle; it’s a little more glossy than the cupcake. The peppermint didn’t keep it’s shape, but it melted and oozed throughout the entire cupcake and it was delicious!

It’s the perfect little bite-size chocolate-mint treat.  I made 24 mini-cupcakes, and a quick guesstimate at the calorie count, considering the cupcake batter and the Jr. Mint, this is a mere 40-calorie treat.  The cupcake batter has zero trans fat and is probiotic.

While certainly not a health food, it’s a portion controlled way to satisfy my sweet tooth, without derailing my eating plan.

Happy Wednesday!

Ciao for now,

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Birthdays and Buttons

I’ve always admired so many of the cards out there that use buttons as embellishments; yet its something I typically forget to use.  I took out my little stash determined to use them on some birthday cards.

A birthday card for my uncle; card base is SU Night of Navy with Old Olive and some Bordering blue.  I had this paper in my stash (this layout is great for using up scraps of DP); and used my go-to birthday stamp set “Birthday Whimsy” by Stampin’ UP.

 

 

 

 

I like what the button adds to this one, but still keeps it simple, and easily mailed.

 

 

Here’s a birthday card for my aunt (my aunt and uncle are only 1 day apart).  There’s a lovely stamp company that has stamps which are meant to have buttons used with them, but unfortunately, the shipping to Canada is ridiculous, so they’re not on my shopping list.  I found this little stamp in my stash and realized I could use the same effect.

Card Base is a retired colour from SU that I cannot remember, with Real Red.  This is a Clean and Simple sketch (FTL86) and is quickly becoming a favourite of mine.  Sentiment is SU, buttons are Basic Grey.

 

 

Happy Tuesday!

Ciao for now,

Monday, May 3, 2010

Happy Everything!

My mom gave me a little challenge; to make my cousin a Graduation/Birthday card.  I had a few grand ideas, however I was short on time to get the card in the mail.

I remember a stamp I bought last year, (which I thought would get many uses) that hadn’t seen ink yet!  Another little search for a Grad cap stamp in my collection e voila!

 

My cousin loves pink, so I knew that would be one of the colours. I found some awesome polka dot paper in my stash, picked a simple layout and created this “Happy Everything” card.

The card base is SU Going Grey, with Pretty in Pink paper and ribbon.  Both stamps are from my collection, not sure of the manufacturer, but their little size makes them perfect for this layout.  I kept the pink polka dot theme when colouring the gift, and used Crystal effects on the balloons.

Happy Monday!

Ciao for now,

Sunday, May 2, 2010

I’m still here, I promise.

Last week was quite busy with work, and a spike in custom card orders,photography class, etc… so the blog was a little neglected.  This upcoming week will be very busy as well, with lots of travelling, but at least I had the foresight to schedule some posts for you!

I’ll be sharing the cards I made last week, and a recipe for your sweet tooth, so stay tuned.

Happy Sunday!

Ciao for now,

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