It's Time to "Sale-A-Brate" - We Create Blog Hop

Thanks for stopping by this month's We Create Blog Hop! This month, we are super-duper excited because it's time for SALE-A-BRATION! In case you haven't heard before, Sale-a-bration is our biggest sale of the year. For every $50 you spend in Stampin Up product, you get a FREE product of your choice from the SAB catalog. You can check out the Sale-a-bration catalog here (it's also in the sidebar). This deal is available until March 31 -- so you've got plenty of time to look at all the pretty things and fill up your wish list!

For today's blog hop, we're all featuring some of the fun products you can earn for free during this great promotion! I first saw the banner stamp set & coordinating punch, and I love them! I also got the fun polka-dotted Textured Embossing Folder, which is just so festive!

I made this cute card tonight, and I intended for it to be brighter, like a birthday card. But it turned out a bit more pastel and calm, so it's more like a "Welcome Baby" card -- I guess you could still say it's a *birth*day card! (Please forgive the horrible pun -- I've been fighting bronchitis and I'm on some strong meds right now. ... Yeah, I'm gonna blame the meds, because I would never make a horrible pun like that normally..... nope....)

I intended to make a cute bag topper to go with this card, and make it a card-and-gift combo, but my creative juices ran out and it just didn't happen tonight. Oh well, maybe next time.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Blog Hop to get inspiration for all the other Sale-a-bration offerings! There are so many great products; you don't want to miss out! Contact me if you ever have any questions or want to host a party. I'm always up for a party!

Blog Hop - Celebrate the Everyday

Happy New Year!!

The We Create Blog Hop group has committed to another year of fun, inspiring blog hops, and I can't wait to see the awesome projects my fellow demonstrators and I come up with this year! This month's blog hop is up a few days later than usual to accommodate the crazy holiday schedule.  We also bumped the date back a bit because . . .

our Occasions Catalog debuts today!!

Check it out in my sidebar! There are SO many great stamp sets, project ideas, supplies, and tools in there! The theme is great too. So great, in fact, that we stole it for our Blog Hop this month! There's always a reason to celebrate, and this catalog encourages you to "Celebrate the Everyday." Sounds like an excuse to party to me!

One of the first things to catch my eye in the new catalog was this fun Burlap and Blooms Wreath. I've been doing a lot of home decor projects lately, and this is the perfect thing to hang on your door to welcome in Spring! The fact that we're just starting Winter is irrelevant - ha! The pastel colors and the fun blooms make for a welcome addition in all this white snow and ice. It took longer to put together than I originally thought, but it's super simple. Just folding, gluing, and wrapping - easy, peasy!

I haven't put all the flowers on yet, but I thought it was pretty darn cute as-is!

Lots of opportunity for customizing and personalizing this fun wreath.

I'll be hosting a class to make these adorable wreaths in March, so stay posted for updates!

Here's wishing you a fun, happy, and creative year in 2014! Thanks for stopping by!

"Get Well" Blog Hop

Welcome back! This month, with cold and flu season right upon us, we decided to do a "Get Well" Blog Hop. This way, you can get ideas for what to give that friend, neighbor, sibling, etc. who may be sick or just feeling down. I chose the topic this month, and it hit close to home as I found out (after choosing the theme) that both my grandmother and my husbands grandmother were in the hospital. So whether it's sniffles or surgery, these Get Well ideas will help you know just the thing to give your loved one a pick-me-up.

As anyone who's been around me much may know, my go-to way to help and comfort those around me who are in need is always through food. So this cute little "Get well" mug is right up my alley. It's filled with Hot Spiced Apple Cider mix, a pocket pack of Kleenex, and a handful of cough drops -- everything you need when you've got a case of the sniffles.

My husband and I had also made a quick "Thinking of You" card for his grandma, who was in the hospital. If I have time tomorrow, I'll add the picture of it here. For now, just know it was lovely.

Be sure to hop through to all the lovely blogs in our Hop to see what they have to share!

Gift Giving Blog Hop

Hello! And welcome to this month's We Create Blog Hop! This month's hop is all about gift-giving. Be sure to visit all the gals in the Hop. We love comments and Pins!

I'm super excited to share my project -- inspired by a recent stamp session with Julie, as usual. I"m teaching 2 Christmas classes in the next few weeks, and I love giving my hostesses a great hostess gift during their parties. This lovely Christmas-themed package will make a great hostess gift. (If you're one of the ladies whose classes I'm teaching, this is what you have to look forward to! Um, Surprise!)

I'm super-duper pleased with how this turned out. It was my first attempt at embossing the acetate cover or sleeve that comes with our Tag-a-Bag Gift Boxes. Even though it sounded intimidating, it was actually super-simple! I'll definitely be doing this again in the future.

After embellishing the box cover, I made a simple belly band for the box. Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, and Crumb Cake cardstock with a touch of bling make for a simple and elegant centerpiece for the box.

Here you can see the box cover/sleeve and the contents of the gift. I love the level of detail that shows up on the acetate sleeve -- so crisp and clear! The ornament stamp is from my favorite Christmas stamp set possibly ever: Ornament Keepsakes. Love it!

 I found a lovely red glass jar at Hobby Lobby, and it fit perfectly in the Tag-a-Bag box! Hooray! I wrapped a bit of our Burlap Ribbon and added 3 simple Basic Jewel rhinestones. The filler in the back is some leftover paper Easter grass -- but hey, it looks Christmas-y, doesn't it?

The jar is filled with homemade relaxing bath salts. They were super-duper easy to make. Here's the recipe! You can use whatever essential oils you like; this citrus-based blend is invigorating, but a touch of lavender makes it relaxing too. Perfect for a nice soak in the tub, maybe with some candles and a great book.

Homemade Bath Salt Recipe 

1/2 cup Epsom salts

1/2 cup Sea salt 

10 drops Wild Orange essential oil 

10 drops Lemon essential oil 

3 drops Lavender essential oil 

Mix in a metal bowl, then store in a glass jar. Add about 2 Tbsp to warm bath water and enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to click on through to see the rest of the fabulous gift ideas the other Hoppers have for you.

Happy Halloween!

I know it's a bit late, but I wanted to share a quick post about some of the fun Halloween crafts I've seen and made over the last few weeks. Halloween has never been a huge holiday for me, but it sure makes for some fun creative opportunities. I dressed up in the costume I made for Comic Con in September, and my husband and I spent a quiet evening at home with friends celebrating Halloween. What are your Halloween traditions?


First up, the Halloween banner I made at Julie's class. Mine is the "condensed" version to fit on my kitchen cabinets, but I really love the way it gave some holiday spunk to my small little kitchen!

Close-up of some of the fun details on the center panel.
Isn't the glittery bat great? I love the small button, too.

Next up - another one of Julie's projects! She made these adorable Witches' Brooms our of black licorice, skinny cello bags, cardstock, and a stamp. Quick and easy, but super cute! I feel like that about sums up so many of Julie's projects.

These two adorable paper pumpkins were made for me by a friend. The first one is a more simple pumpkin, and the second one is made of layers of paper "lollies" -- accordion-folded paper circles. Both are wrapped around cute little twigs.

And here's my costume! I dressed as Chell from the computer game Portal. Not many people recognized who I was, but that's ok; the costume went over very well at Comic Con, which was it's intended audience anyway. I got the jumpsuit at a military surplus store, the shirt is stenciled on with a Sharpie, and I made the "long fall boots" out of hardware store finds, shoes from DI (thrift store), and officially licensed Portal socks.

Super pleased with how the boots turned out!!
Check out the originals here.

And here's our pumpkin! It's the Crest of Hyrule, from the Legend of Zelda video games. So yeah, we had a super-nerdy Halloween!