Sweetheart Cupcakes

First of all, we want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day - we hope you have a wonderful day no matter what you decide to do.  I usually post craft/cards but every once in awhile I share a good recipe that I have stumbled onto.  Today is one of those posts.  I usually make Joe/kids a pink cake with lots of red hots, but I saw this recipe on Allrecipes and decided to try it.  Fortunately, it worked out as I didn't have a back up plan! 

It makes 24 cupcakes using a white cake mix and then just coloring the batter into 2 different colors.  I had everything on hand except the raspberry candy oil, so off Joe went to the store.  I was going to make it without it but I'm so glad I didn't.  It made the taste so yummy!

I am always on the look out for a good icing and on the bottom of the recipe is also a delicious recipe for icing.  The nice thing about this recipe is that you could use any food coloring for any holiday.  This icing makes a lot which would be perfect for a cake as well.  I'm definitely going to be making this again in the future.

I love when you cut into the cupcake and you can see the different colors!  How neat it that!  I have to warn you that one is not enough!!  The sun is out and melting the mess, so we are on our way to NJ.  We'll drop some off for my daughter and family and also bring some to Jennifer and her Mom who we are meeting for dinner. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

Valentine Goodie Cups

Well, I'm looking out my window watching the snow/rain come down turning to ice and wishing it would get warmer but no such luck.  The roads are terrible!  I just texted my daughter that maybe she should stay at the hospital tonight inside of driving home.  It is a real mess outside. 

Today I wanted to post the goodie cups I made for the Wellness Center.  I had ordered these adorable cups/lids last year when I made them for Halloween.  As you know, one of my resolutions is to use up extra craft items so I decided to make some Valentine  goodies with the remaining cups.  They are 4 oz. and I ordered them online from the Restaurant store.  They come in large quantities, but now I'm down to a handful.  I had made a template and kept it which was nice, so all I had to do was start tracing and cutting from DSP.  Some people use tear and tape to adhere the DSP on the cups but I prefer my tombow glue as it gives me some time to reposition it if I have to.  The template is not perfect as each cup can vary in size a bit but it comes pretty close.

Here is the first bunch I made.  I also used some Washi tape and decorated the rim of the lid.  I love that Washi tape is so flexible.  I didn't get too fancy with them by adding hearts, etc. as I made a lot but decided to use up some Popsicle sticks I had in my stash and add some sticky hearts on the end.

I think they dressed the cups up and gave them a cute Valentine look.  I put in some mini candy bars and some kisses and they fit perfectly.

These cups also used up some of my DSP that I had lying around.  I think they turned out really cute!

This is one of the trays I used so it will be easier for my daughter to carry them to the Center.  Again, I urge crafters out there to contact their local Senior Centers, Wellness Centers, Nursing Homes, etc., and make some goodies.  They always look forward to these little surprises and are so appreciative.

Well, I hope everyone has some exciting plans for Valentine's Day.  We are all suppose to meet for dinner over in NJ with Jennifer and her Mom, so I hope this nasty weather clears up.  Everyone in the Pansy Patch hopes you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day no matter what your plans.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

Sunshine Wishes Valentine Card

I have another Valentine Day card for you today!  I am definitely on a roll.  I made a couple of these to mail out and in my hurry to get them to the post office I didn't take any pictures.  Has that ever happened to you?  Fortunately, I was hand delivering one to my daughter and her finance, so I torn her envelop open and took a picture.  I saw this in different versions all over youtube and loved how it turned out.

One of my resolutions this year is to try and use some of the stamp sets that don't have much ink on them.  This stamp set - Sunshine Wishes - is one of them.  I used the framelits for the hearts and word love.  To organize my stamp sets, I took pictures of each stamp set and put them in a binder and then stored the actual stamps alphabetically on my shelf.  I also just keep the matching/dies with the appropriate stamp set.  I love this system, but now realize that I should probably take pictures of the dies/framelits as well, so I know what I have of them.  Another project!!  I love this DSP - All My Love.  The hearts are made using Real Red CS and some scraps of the DSP.

For my inside sentiment, I used the Sealed with Love stamp set again and some scraps of the DSP.  I thought it needed something else on the front, so I used some red rhinestones I had in my stash.  I got another envelop out for them, so all it good!!  Have a great weekend.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

I entered this post at Simply Create Too Challenge #146.

Hey Love Valentine Cards

Here is another cute Valentine Day card that I made.  This is using the new SU's Hey Love stamp set.  I used some of these stamps on Jennifer's classmates Valentine boxes.  I think they are just adorable!

I used Basic Black CS for my base card and the the first layer is with the new All My Love  DSP.  I just stamped two of the Hey Love stamps for my sentiment, colored them in with my markers and layered the rectangles with Basic Black CS.

For my inside sentiment, I used the Seal with Love stamp set and used up the scraps of my DSP.

This card came together really quick.  I love making Valentine Day cards.  So cheerful and bright!  Hope everyone is having a good week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

Valentine Card with Party Pandas

Today I have another Valentine's Day card using the Party Pandas.  This stamp set is perfect for Valentine's Day cards.  Since I have a bunch of kids to send cards to, I made another version.  This time I used Whisper White, Real Red and Powder Pink CS for my card.

I used my floating hearts embossing folder on the Powder Pink CS and then my Sweet & Sassy Framelits to cut out a heart in the middle.  I stamped my cute little panda on a scrap piece of Whisper White ad then mounted it under the Powder Pink CS covering up the balloon.

I then put my cards together and punched out a small heart in Red Glimmer paper to take the place of the balloon.  I then added some extra hearts using my punch. 

For my inside sentiment, I used SU's Sealed with Love stamp set again.  I love the script on this sentiment.  I have been working on my goodies for the Wellness Center and hope to finish them up soon.  Have a great week!

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

Party Panda Valentine Cards

Over the weekend, I started to make some Valentine Day cards for the girls.  I think this stamp set is so cute and when I checked Pinterest they had such cute cards made for Valentine's Day.  This card came together pretty quick.  I used Real Red, Basic Black and Whisper White CS.

It looks like the little panda is just floating by with Valentine wishes!!  I used my large circle embossing folder for my layer.

It is hard to tell, but I used some rhinestones on his eyes to brighten him up, as well as, some silver glimmer paper for one of the balloons.

I used SU's stamp set Sealed with Love for my sentiment inside.  I really like the old SU Valentine stamp sets.  It has started to snow here this AM.  We are suppose to get 5-8" of snow today.  I hope they are wrong.  Along with the snow we are scheduled for below zero temps.

This weekend Jennifer and her Mom came to visit and we out together all her goodie bags for her classmates and her teachers.  Her school assignment for this week was to put together a shirt to celebrate 100 days in school.  Here is the shirt she designed.  It's hard to see, but there are 100 items - believe me!!  Mom used the hot glue!  She was so happy with how it turned out and can hardy wait to wear it on Friday.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy

I entered this post over at CardzTV Challenge - #82 - Anything Goes. and Crafty Creations Challenge #383 - Anything Goes.

Valentine Covered Containers

I'm back today with some cute containers that I covered for Jennifer's teachers for Valentine's Day.  In the past, I have covered some small - coffee cups for Halloween for Jennifer's classmates, but decided to get some bigger containers with flat lids to make for her teachers.  I just loved how they turned out.

I found these containers at Hobby Lobby.  They were the only ones with lids.  They came 5 to a package.  I needed to take one apart to use as a template which I will keep for future use.

I made a template out of cardboard extending it about 1/4" so I would have a hangover.  Then I traced it on some DSP and using my green glue I wrapped each of the containers.  Since each container is not a perfect size there was a little extra on the bottom which I just cut off.

 Then for the lid I used my Spellbinders Scallop Circle die.  I also had some washi tape in my stash and I decorated each rim. 

I used the Heart Happiness stamp and the Sweet & Sassy Framelits to cut them.

I then added some 1/4" ribbon to the lid and secured the heart.  I forgot to take a picture, but I found some little enamel hearts that I added to the lid just to dress them up.  I loved how they turned out and they came together so quick and easy.

Jennifer is coming up this weekend, and we will fill them with candy hearts for her teachers and dress them all up in some in Valentine bags to hand out.

Thanks for stopping by,

Nancy