Owl Halloween Card

OMG - I'm making Halloween cards!  It doesn't seem possible!  I'm trying to get an early start this year.   I saw this card and thought it was so cute!  Brenda makes a lot of cute items and this caught my eye.  She made it a note card, but I decided to make it into an A2 size card.

I changed it around a bit.  I used the SU Howl-o-ween Treat Stamp Set and the Boo to You Framelits. I did use the Woodland Embossing Folder which she used.

I had a cute little stick bat stamp that I picked up at the Scrapbooking Show last year and decided to decorate the front with a few of them flying around.

The sentiment I used on the inside came from the Haunt Ya Later SU Stamp Set.  These came together really quick.  We spent some time yesterday with Jennifer and her play-doh!!  She is she addicted to the stuff.  She showed us her Halloween costume - she is going to be a ladybug - so cute! She loves them but gets so upset when they fly away!  Have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by,
Nancy, Rachel & Sarah

Cupcake Candle Holder

I have such a cute project for you today.  I saw this little box on Sam Donald's blog and loved it!  I thought what a cute way to give a little something to someone on their birthday, or for that matter you could give it for any occasion - thinking of you, thank you, place card, etc.  There are so many uses for this little gem!

I first had to find some cupcake candles.  Fortunately, I have some nice candle stores around, but if you don't have any locally you can find so many on the web.

I tried to match up my DSP with the color of the candle.  After I finished making the holders, I felt that I needed to make up some tags to dress up the container.  I went rummaging through my stamps and found this adorable little cupcake stamp I had purchased at the Scrapbook Show!  I colored them in with coordinating SU markers and then actually cut them out - which wasn't too bad!  I'm not the best when it comes to cutting little things out but these turned out pretty good.

I used my SU stamp set Perfect Punches for the Happy Birthday wishes and punched them out with the large oval SU punch for all the holders this time around.  I used my Martha Stewart butterfly punch and matching CS and DSP to dress up the box.

Then I packaged them up in some clear bags and tied everything together with some matching ribbons.

Here's what's left of the first bunch I made.

I just loved how they turned out!  The girls are off to the football game tonight and this weekend we are looking forward to spending Sunday with Jennifer at the local farm feeding the animals, which she loves to do!  Have a great weekend and enjoy this wonderful weather!

Thank for stopping by,
Nancy, Rachel & Sarah

Mini Notepads

My friend Denise moved to Virginia this summer, so it is just our friend Martha from Florida, who spends the summer here, and myself doing some crafting.  I saw these adorable mini notepads on one of my favorite blogs and knew they would be great gifts to make ahead of time for teachers in school and Sunday School, coworkers, etc.

I put a bunch in a decorated basket for my daughter to take to work for her coworkers and they loved them.

I didn't have the Ornate tag punch she used, but the Scalloped tag punch worked out great.

This project is also a great way to use up your scraps of paper as well as ribbon and twine!  I just ordered the new Banner triple punch and can hardly wait to try it out!  Lots of goodies in the new SU catalog.

Well, it is back to the kitchen.  The family is coming tomorrow for a picnic and there is still a lot to do.  Fortunately, my helpers are out of school until Tuesday.  They just went back Monday and they have 5 days off - I don't remember that when I was in school.  Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend.  Hard to believe that summer is over.  I'm not looking forward to the snow that is coming!

Thanks for stopping by,
Nancy, Rachel & Sarah

Christmas Stars

I have been thinking about things to make for Christmas and I saw these adorable stars on Chic N' Scratch and decided to make some.

I was surprised how quickly they came together.  I'm definitely going to make some more in different colors.  I'm going to use them along with some table decorations and maybe hang some with some twine.

Hope everyone is enjoying the last week of summer.  Jennifer has learned to love her "corn on the cob".  The girls go back to school tomorrow, so the schedules begin!  It looks like its going to be a hot week for them.

Thanks for joining us,
Nancy, Rachel and Sarah

Thank You Card

Well, the rain has stopped and the sun is back out and the day as turned out great!  I needed to sneak into my craft area and make some quick thank you cards.  We celebrated Joe's birthday the other day and when I looked in my stash I had none!

Here's a shot of what I have leftover.  I used Whisper White CS for the base A2 card and then stamped my layer with Versamark and then embossed it in gold.  I used SU's stamp set Another Thank You.  Nothing fancy but quick and easy!  I'm glad I purchased this set!

Here's a picture of the crew!

I must have taken this shot a dozen times to catch Jennifer smiling and this was the best I got!  This past weekend we went to the Peach Festival at the local church and had a great time.  Sarah won at bingo and my daughter won several goodies at the cake walk!  Such fun - and the desserts were great!

Thanks for stopping by,
Nancy, Rachel & Sarah

Blackberry Bliss Birthday Card

Hope everyone has been enjoying their summer.  I know we have!!  On July 1st I turned 70 - hard to believe - and of course everyone wanted to know how I wanted to celebrate!  I always wanted to go to the Outer Banks in NC, so we rented a house for the entire family and had a great time!!  We had great weather and the kids had a ball.  Here's a picture of them learning how to water paddle.

We decided we wanted a group picture of everyone as well.  After a lot of tries, we finally got one where Jennifer was looking at the camera.

One of the best things about the trip was that I was able to rent a beach wheelchair!  I was diagnosed with MS 25 years ago and have not been able to go on the beach for awhile.  When I found out I could rent one of these chairs, I was in heaven!  I was able to play in the sand with Jennifer and go in the water with the kids!  It was definitely the highlight of my trip!

What's a visit to the beach without bringing home a hermit crab!  Here's a picture of Sarah and Jennifer checking it out!  They decided to name it Peanuts!

Here is a picture of Jennifer trying to be a butterfly!  She loves butterflies!!

Here is a picture of Jennifer all ready for the 4th of July celebrations!!  She loved going barefoot in the sand!

We couldn't let the kids go out too far on their boogie boards due to the shark attacks, so they got plenty of use out of the pool.

Unfortunately, we had to take Sarah to the hospital when we got home as she ended up with double ear infections in both ears, as well as, swimmers ear!  Now she has to wear ear plugs at all times!  I think she is part fish!

With all the unpacking and getting back to normal, I finally had some time to make a card.  I have a lot of birthdays in July/August and this was the first one I came up with.

I made my base card an A2 size in Whisper White with my first layer 4"x 5 1/4"in Blackberry Bliss and my second layer 3 3/8" x 5 1/8" in Whisper White.  The stamp sets I used were SU's Birthday Blossom and Gorgeous Grunge.  My ink was SU's Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive. I stamped my background first and then my sentiment.   I stamped and cut out the leaves and popped them up with dimensionals and then punched out my flowers with my Pansy punch.  I used my blender pen to color in the leaves and flowers.  I also popped up the flowers with dimensionals so they would stand out a bit.  It was a pretty simple card to make, but I love how the blackberry bliss color looks against white!

The girls came home to mail telling them their new bus schedules which definitely reminded them that school will be starting in a few weeks, but they are enjoying all the local carnivals and festivals!

Thanks for stopping by,
Nancy, Rachel & Sarah

Paper Teacup/Mug for Father's Day

I was looking for something to make for the Dads to give along with their cards and gifts.  I always have my eye out for things to make that you can put some "goodies" in, so I have an excuse to buy some chocolate!  Last year I made these cute little boxes.  This year I found these cute little paper teacup/mugs.  There is a lot of different videos out there but I made this basic one.

I used stampin up DSP and made the hand with the corresponding side.  I watched a few of these videos on youtube and if made with different dimensions you can vary the size of your cup.

To finish them off, I put some kisses in a plastic bag and tied it with my best year ever ribbon pack.  I really like how they turned out.  They were so easy to put together.  I wish I had known about these years ago.  We always planned a back to school tea party for the girls and their friends and it would have been so cute to have these on the table with some doilies filled with goodies for the group.  I can see these made for favorites for a birthday party or even a wedding.  So many great ideas this little cup can be utilized for.

Hope everyone is getting ready for a great weekend to celebrate all the men in their lives. The girls are enjoying their first week of summer.  It has really warmed up here, but I promised myself I wouldn't complain after the miserable winter we had.

Thanks for stopping by,
Nancy, Rachel & Sarah