The girls' is the red hearts, and I tried to make the boy's a little less frou-frou. :) I plan to fill these with candy and shaped crayons (melted down from broken ones).
You can find a tutorial for the towers here.
I don't know about your husband, but mine is almost impossible to shop for! He has everything he needs or wants, and I brainstorm for months about what to get for him. Last year's Valentine's Day gift was such a huge hit, though, that I decided to do a variation on it this year. It didn't cost me anything, except for a few pennies for the doily I lined it with, but I guarantee you he'll like it better than anything I could have bought at the store.
This can be customized to anyone, not just your husband. Read on for more details ...
I started out with this red foil Russell Stover chocolate gift box from a previous Valentine's Day. Of course I ate all the chocolate eons ago, but the box was too pretty to toss. I just added my own homemade "chocolates" inside:
I punched out brown hearts with my CM heart punch and then ran them through my Cuttlebug with the D'vine Swirls embossing folder (to mimic the swirls on top real chocolates). Then I made tiny (about 1") origami boxes and glued those to the top of the boxes. I glued red hearts to the bottom of the boxes, too.
Here you can see them nestled in the shiny gold (at least they are outside) mini cupcake liners I got during the after-Christmas clearance:
It does look a lot like a box of chocolates when you open it up. Even I was surprised by the effect. :)
I added a Dollar Tree 8" paper doily to the box lid, and I plan to add a verse or two inside as well. Since those will be a bit personal, I decided to photograph the box at this stage. I still have to decorate the outside of the box, and I'm leaning toward another Dollar Tree paper doily (10" this time).
Here's a closeup of the "chocolates":
I made the little boxes to be able to include a note for a special treat. (I'll probably include two little red hot hearts, too, since they're the perfect size to fit inside with a note.) This is where you can personalize it for whomever you want. What do they like? A foot rub? An hour to themselves? Something else? Just tuck a little note inside promising them they can have it when they pick that "chocolate". I guarantee this will be a much better gift than anything you could buy in the store!
I was able to fit 16 chocolates inside this box. You could always decorate a mini one if you can't think of as many little "treats".
Enjoy!
This can be customized to anyone, not just your husband. Read on for more details ...
I started out with this red foil Russell Stover chocolate gift box from a previous Valentine's Day. Of course I ate all the chocolate eons ago, but the box was too pretty to toss. I just added my own homemade "chocolates" inside:
I punched out brown hearts with my CM heart punch and then ran them through my Cuttlebug with the D'vine Swirls embossing folder (to mimic the swirls on top real chocolates). Then I made tiny (about 1") origami boxes and glued those to the top of the boxes. I glued red hearts to the bottom of the boxes, too.
Here you can see them nestled in the shiny gold (at least they are outside) mini cupcake liners I got during the after-Christmas clearance:
It does look a lot like a box of chocolates when you open it up. Even I was surprised by the effect. :)
I added a Dollar Tree 8" paper doily to the box lid, and I plan to add a verse or two inside as well. Since those will be a bit personal, I decided to photograph the box at this stage. I still have to decorate the outside of the box, and I'm leaning toward another Dollar Tree paper doily (10" this time).
Here's a closeup of the "chocolates":
I made the little boxes to be able to include a note for a special treat. (I'll probably include two little red hot hearts, too, since they're the perfect size to fit inside with a note.) This is where you can personalize it for whomever you want. What do they like? A foot rub? An hour to themselves? Something else? Just tuck a little note inside promising them they can have it when they pick that "chocolate". I guarantee this will be a much better gift than anything you could buy in the store!
I was able to fit 16 chocolates inside this box. You could always decorate a mini one if you can't think of as many little "treats".
Enjoy!
Does this card look familiar? I posted a similar one not long ago, and now I'm posting this brown and pink version. I don't often combine brown and pink, but I like how it turned out!
Supplies: stamp (Susan Branch); ink (SU Chocolate Chip, BIC Mark-Its); paper (DMD, The Paper Company, unknown glittered vellum); border punch (MS lace); Labels 4 Nestabilities (Spellbinders); flowers (from a floral stem), office brad, dew drops
Enjoy! :)
Supplies: stamp (Susan Branch); ink (SU Chocolate Chip, BIC Mark-Its); paper (DMD, The Paper Company, unknown glittered vellum); border punch (MS lace); Labels 4 Nestabilities (Spellbinders); flowers (from a floral stem), office brad, dew drops
Enjoy! :)
I mentioned in a previous post that my sister-in-law's birthday was on Wednesday. I wanted to make her something for on her walls. She recently moved, and I had the idea for this as we were helping hang pictures on her walls.
Her husband isn't with them anymore, and her life revolves around her teen-aged children. They're out of the "cutesy" stage and don't like having their pictures taken quite as much anymore, but she still manages to have gorgeous portraits of them all over her walls. I created this frame to coordinate with the black-framed portraits in her living room.
Would you believe I used a Dollar Tree black frame for this? It's around 8x16", and it comes with a plain off-white mat already in it. It's designed to hold three 5x7" photos. Every other time I've used these frames, I've taken out the insert. But this time I decided to use it and just make it pretty.
All I did to that mat was add black flourishes with my Autumn Leaves flourishes stamp set. It made it look sooooo expensive and elegant that even I was shocked when I finished it. :) I've been scared to death of those flourish stamps, even though I love flourishes. I'm just not a random kind of gal, and I wasn't sure I could pull off a whole frame of flourishes. But here's proof that it's not hard, and mistakes don't usually show up.
I designed the 5x7" inserts on my computer. It's each of her kids' names, the origin of the name (English/Hebrew/etc.) and the meaning of the name. I found all the information online for free. You can find it by googling "name meaning" or anything close to that. I used Edwardian Script and Garamond fonts, and I loved how they turned out!
My sister-in-law is going to love this, and it only cost me $1!!
Her husband isn't with them anymore, and her life revolves around her teen-aged children. They're out of the "cutesy" stage and don't like having their pictures taken quite as much anymore, but she still manages to have gorgeous portraits of them all over her walls. I created this frame to coordinate with the black-framed portraits in her living room.
Would you believe I used a Dollar Tree black frame for this? It's around 8x16", and it comes with a plain off-white mat already in it. It's designed to hold three 5x7" photos. Every other time I've used these frames, I've taken out the insert. But this time I decided to use it and just make it pretty.
All I did to that mat was add black flourishes with my Autumn Leaves flourishes stamp set. It made it look sooooo expensive and elegant that even I was shocked when I finished it. :) I've been scared to death of those flourish stamps, even though I love flourishes. I'm just not a random kind of gal, and I wasn't sure I could pull off a whole frame of flourishes. But here's proof that it's not hard, and mistakes don't usually show up.
I designed the 5x7" inserts on my computer. It's each of her kids' names, the origin of the name (English/Hebrew/etc.) and the meaning of the name. I found all the information online for free. You can find it by googling "name meaning" or anything close to that. I used Edwardian Script and Garamond fonts, and I loved how they turned out!
My sister-in-law is going to love this, and it only cost me $1!!
When we moved here four years ago, I moved six hours away from my family. My mom and sister are my best friends, and I missed them terribly. I hadn't had a close "girl" friend since college days, and all of those "girls" have moved away so our friendships must continue long distance. I'm sure you know that sometimes you just need a friend to do something with. So I prayed for a friend, and I even had some long distance friends praying, too.
It wasn't more than three months after we first started praying that I discovered a fellow pastor's wife just an hour and a half down the road. (That might sound like a lot, but it's a lot closer than six hours to see my family!) They had moved around the same time that we had and were just as lonely, but it took us a year to "discover" each other.
Not only was she of the same beliefs theologically, we discovered that we had A LOT in common. Her daughter and my son were born a year and a day apart. She enjoys crafts, especially rubber stamping. I could go on and on, but you get the point. She was my answer to prayer! To top it off, our husbands hit it off, and our kids did, too. So we literally have "family" friends!
We get to see each other a few times a month since they come up our way to do some shopping on a regular basis. But we thought it would be fun to "get together" via our blogs every week and create together. So we're calling this "I Challenge You Wednesday", and our first challenge was to create something sea-themed.
Here is what all I came up with this week ...
This uses my cheap graduation cards, the seashell stamp my husband recently found at the thrift store, my homemade glitter brads, and the Fiskars textured rubber brayer that came in the same pack as the stamp. I also used my Nestabilities Labels 1, D'vine Swirls embossing folder, gold embossing glitter and gold embossing powder.
I liked the effect of using the textured brayer with my Versamark pad and gold embossing glitter. The background sparkles every time you move the card. I wanted it to mimic sand, and it does remind me of it.
This second project is very similar, but I used different supplies and it looks quite different. Here again, I used the cheap graduation cards, my thrifted seashell stamp, my thrifted Fiskars textured brayer, and my homemade pearl brads.
I also used my Nestabilities Labels 1 and D'vine Swirls embossing folder with the double embossing technique to highlight the stamp. I stamped the seashell in Versamark and then rubbed over it with chalk. I created the same type of card background, but this time I used the iridescent embossing powder.
My sister-in-law's birthday is today (so is my husband's, since they're twins) and I wanted to make her notecards to go with her other gift, which I'll share another day. She loved the last set of notecards I gave her, so I had fun personalizing these to her. She loves the sea and the beach, so this was the perfect theme for her notecards.
For the focal point image, I combined a lifesaver digital stamp from Leaves of Time and a free "message in a bottle" PhotoShop Brush called SS Beaches. I added Paper Glaze to the bottle to make it look more like a bottle (translucent). You can see it upclose below:
I also used my Nestabilities Labels 1, D'vine Swirls embossing folder, and my MS scoring board. I printed the sentiment from my computer. I think she's going to like them!
But wait - there's more. I couldn't just give her a set of notecards tied up with a ribbon when I just ran across the perfect packaging! So here's the gift "bag" that the cards will be stored in:
It's from a free template by the ever-talented and generous Mel. Doesn't it look just like a beach tote? There's a Technique Lover's Challenge on Splitcoast right now using these bags, and I saw one that added a fancy cut-out around the handle. that reminded me of the lifesavers on the cards, and the rest of the decoration just fell into place. I also added Paper Glaze to this bottle, and it gives it just the right touch.
I had to adjust the template a bit since my cards were too big for the original size. I just printed out her template and used it as a guide on graph paper to make mine big enough. (Hers fit onto an 8.5x11" paper, and I stretched mine to a 12" paper.)
So there you have my creations for our first "I Challenge You Wednesday". Now you'll want to visit my friend's blog to see what she came up with! And feel free to play along, if you'd like. Just add a link to your project(s) in the comments.
And if you'd rather just observe, that's fine, too! :)
It wasn't more than three months after we first started praying that I discovered a fellow pastor's wife just an hour and a half down the road. (That might sound like a lot, but it's a lot closer than six hours to see my family!) They had moved around the same time that we had and were just as lonely, but it took us a year to "discover" each other.
Not only was she of the same beliefs theologically, we discovered that we had A LOT in common. Her daughter and my son were born a year and a day apart. She enjoys crafts, especially rubber stamping. I could go on and on, but you get the point. She was my answer to prayer! To top it off, our husbands hit it off, and our kids did, too. So we literally have "family" friends!
We get to see each other a few times a month since they come up our way to do some shopping on a regular basis. But we thought it would be fun to "get together" via our blogs every week and create together. So we're calling this "I Challenge You Wednesday", and our first challenge was to create something sea-themed.
Here is what all I came up with this week ...
This uses my cheap graduation cards, the seashell stamp my husband recently found at the thrift store, my homemade glitter brads, and the Fiskars textured rubber brayer that came in the same pack as the stamp. I also used my Nestabilities Labels 1, D'vine Swirls embossing folder, gold embossing glitter and gold embossing powder.
I liked the effect of using the textured brayer with my Versamark pad and gold embossing glitter. The background sparkles every time you move the card. I wanted it to mimic sand, and it does remind me of it.
This second project is very similar, but I used different supplies and it looks quite different. Here again, I used the cheap graduation cards, my thrifted seashell stamp, my thrifted Fiskars textured brayer, and my homemade pearl brads.
I also used my Nestabilities Labels 1 and D'vine Swirls embossing folder with the double embossing technique to highlight the stamp. I stamped the seashell in Versamark and then rubbed over it with chalk. I created the same type of card background, but this time I used the iridescent embossing powder.
My sister-in-law's birthday is today (so is my husband's, since they're twins) and I wanted to make her notecards to go with her other gift, which I'll share another day. She loved the last set of notecards I gave her, so I had fun personalizing these to her. She loves the sea and the beach, so this was the perfect theme for her notecards.
For the focal point image, I combined a lifesaver digital stamp from Leaves of Time and a free "message in a bottle" PhotoShop Brush called SS Beaches. I added Paper Glaze to the bottle to make it look more like a bottle (translucent). You can see it upclose below:
I also used my Nestabilities Labels 1, D'vine Swirls embossing folder, and my MS scoring board. I printed the sentiment from my computer. I think she's going to like them!
But wait - there's more. I couldn't just give her a set of notecards tied up with a ribbon when I just ran across the perfect packaging! So here's the gift "bag" that the cards will be stored in:
It's from a free template by the ever-talented and generous Mel. Doesn't it look just like a beach tote? There's a Technique Lover's Challenge on Splitcoast right now using these bags, and I saw one that added a fancy cut-out around the handle. that reminded me of the lifesavers on the cards, and the rest of the decoration just fell into place. I also added Paper Glaze to this bottle, and it gives it just the right touch.
I had to adjust the template a bit since my cards were too big for the original size. I just printed out her template and used it as a guide on graph paper to make mine big enough. (Hers fit onto an 8.5x11" paper, and I stretched mine to a 12" paper.)
So there you have my creations for our first "I Challenge You Wednesday". Now you'll want to visit my friend's blog to see what she came up with! And feel free to play along, if you'd like. Just add a link to your project(s) in the comments.
And if you'd rather just observe, that's fine, too! :)
I am famous for getting knee-deep in a project and then losing steam, so I've been crocheting rag rugs before I lose that steam! :) I got through almost all of my colored "yarn", so I'm pretty pleased with myself.
This first one I made for my niece whose room is lime green, aqua and chocolate brown.
After I finished it, I didn't like it at all. The edging was all wrong. So I ripped it out to the chocolate brown and added a white border instead:
I like it much better this way! :) I hope my niece likes it, too.
I had quite a bit of blue, so I went ahead and made another blue rug. It isn't quite as even on the color changes, but it's still all blue and coordinating, and I like it.
Then I had some red. But I didn't have several shades, and I certainly didn't have enough to make a whole rug with. So I paired it with grey and black, and I really like it!
And lastly, here is a black and white rug that I made, since I have quite a bit of black and white "yarn" leftover.
You'll be seeing more of these rugs since my kids have requested some for their rooms!
This first one I made for my niece whose room is lime green, aqua and chocolate brown.
After I finished it, I didn't like it at all. The edging was all wrong. So I ripped it out to the chocolate brown and added a white border instead:
I like it much better this way! :) I hope my niece likes it, too.
I had quite a bit of blue, so I went ahead and made another blue rug. It isn't quite as even on the color changes, but it's still all blue and coordinating, and I like it.
Then I had some red. But I didn't have several shades, and I certainly didn't have enough to make a whole rug with. So I paired it with grey and black, and I really like it!
And lastly, here is a black and white rug that I made, since I have quite a bit of black and white "yarn" leftover.
You'll be seeing more of these rugs since my kids have requested some for their rooms!
On Friday I shared the girly version of this album with you. Today I'll share the one I made for my son. You know as well as I do that a pink and red heart-filled castle just won't do for a boy who is currently obsessed with knights!
So here is the ultra-girly castle toned down to a more masculine kingly castle ...
The cover (that's a bead cap from Dollar Tree) ...
The back of the cover and the front of page 1 (I used gold embossing glitter on the turrets.) ...
The back of page 1 and the front of page 2 (Those tiny squares are bead findings from Dollar Tree.) ...
The back of page 2 and the front of page 3 ...
I think he's going to like it! :)
So here is the ultra-girly castle toned down to a more masculine kingly castle ...
The cover (that's a bead cap from Dollar Tree) ...
The back of the cover and the front of page 1 (I used gold embossing glitter on the turrets.) ...
The back of page 1 and the front of page 2 (Those tiny squares are bead findings from Dollar Tree.) ...
The back of page 2 and the front of page 3 ...
I think he's going to like it! :)
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