Animaltastic Birthday...

Here are a couple cards I made for two of my girlfriends. Their birthdays are a week apart in dates so we were celebrating them both in one night. I made these cards together and decided to coordinate them with each other. Both of my friends are fashion-forward so I thought I can't go wrong with animal prints. I made it modern by using abstract versions of the prints. I used 6 different patterned papers and made a mosaic with them. I then put a simple birthday greeting on the front and sealed the envelopes with coordinating washi tape. What do you think? Can you guess the animals referenced in the prints? :)

Holiday treats...

This year I thought I'd give two of my neighbors a holiday treat. Every year my next door neighbor is kind enough to think of us and I thought I'd return the gesture this year. I made two treat boxes, one will go to them, and the other will go to another neighbor that lives down the street. He happens to be the contractor that we hired to redo our backyard/patio.

The treats consisted of mini candy canes, peppermint & chocolate bark, and shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate. I created the labels and purchased the ornament that embellishes the box. It is a food-safe container purchased from a local craft store. I used red and green tissue paper to line the box. I packaged the treats individually and placed them in the box. The wrapping paper sash, (red, white, and green chevron) is from Hallmark's Inspi(red) line from a few years back. (Save your wrapping paper scraps, they always come in handy). I curled the ribbon and added a larger candy cane within it. (candy cane not pictured)

Baby Boy Shower...

I recently attended a baby shower for a dear friend that was having a boy. You may remember my last post about a card welcoming a new baby boy, well that's another friend. I guess you can say my friends have been pretty productive lately...lol. Anyway, here is the design of a card I created for my friend's shower. I also included some pics of the gift I got her. Check it out...

Materials Used for the Card:

+ Kraft paper card stock

+ Premium printed paper

+ Linen textured white paper for the liner

+ Linen textured white card stock for the front label.

+ Decorative masking tape, (a. k. a. "Washi Tape".)

+ Glitter Gel

+ Alphabet stamps in 2 fonts to write the "It's a Boy" on the cover.

+ The envelope was also kraft paper.

The Gift:

+ Onesie saying "My Mom is Cooler than Your Mom"

+ Socks (3qty)

+ Hangers (10-pack)

+ Pacifier set (2-pack)

Gift-Wrapping:

+ Kraft paper sheet (basically, it's shipping paper)

+ Wrapping paper (went with a green theme)

+ Curling ribbon (curled myself)

+ Green tissue

+ Shirt box

+ A sticker seal I made by punching a shape out of adhesive-backed paper.

Welcome baby boy...

Recently, I visited a dear friend that just had an adorable little boy. Here is the card I made for her.

Materials Used:

+ Kraft Paper

+ Card Stock

+ Stamped Greeting (The cover of the card was a one-word greeting stamp, the inner card was written using 2 different fonts of alphabet stamps...they are best way to stamp a saying when you can't find that perfect stamp!)

+ Glitter gel

+ Decorative Masking Tape (a.k.a. Washi Tape)

+ Inside of the card is lined with linen-texture paper.

Holiday Market...

 I wanted to thank the employees of the Writer's Guild for letting me take part in their annual Holiday Market yesterday. It was a lot of fun and I met so many great people. I hope I can be involved again next year. :) I truly enjoyed creating the cards and other paper-goods for the event. Here are some pics of my table...

Some of the items for sale were the following: table place cards, variety of gift tag sets and holiday cards. They will be available in my Etsy shop if they aren't already by the time you read this. This was not a huge event since it was for the office employees rather than the public so the inventory amount was just right for the occasion. I hope to be able to attend more craft shows in the future. When I do, I will let you know here so you can come say hi! :)

Thanksgiving Favors/Place Cards...

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope you're all having fun as you spend time with your family & friends during the holiday!

If you are looking for some decorating ideas, I wanted to share my take on place cards for the table this year, something extra special. It's a very simple, yet elegant design. Not only will the cards have the guest's name, the added bonus is the treat attached to it! The bags are filled with a vanilla sandwich cookie that has the most amazing dulce de leche filling. I got the cookies from a local bakery. If you are re-creating this, you can choose your favorite treat, Oreo's or Hershey Kisses can work equally well.

These lovely packages will rest on each plate, adding a festive touch to the table!

Materials Used:

* Small Cellophane Bag (food-safe quality)

* Premium colored card-stock - in Thanksgiving colors

* Matching polka-dot ribbons (to hide the staples)

* Printed and die-cut kraft paper for the names

* Lovely treat for the filling.

Here is a photograph of the finished product. As you can see there are many variations. Have fun with it. You can keep it simple or you can do any number of decorative embellishments such as the rounded corners and added label as shown above.

Enjoy!

Free Printable ~ Thanksgiving Prep!

Happy Monday!! 

Welcome to Thanksgiving Week! 

I am very thankful that you visited my blog! As a treat, I wanted to provide you with a freebie!

Since this is a stressful time for many who may be hosting the annual feast, it's not that uncommon for some key items to be overlooked. I thought it would be helpful to create a handy list of many of the common Thanksgiving staples to help you stay on track as you prepare for your week. 

I hope this helps at least a little bit!

Enjoy and don't forget to wear your stretchy pants on Thursday! :-)