Hostess Appreciation Party Goodies

Happy Monday, peeps!  Hope you had a good weekend.....we had another down (John) with a stomach bug and I still sound like a croaking toad, but I feel better, well enough to have my Hostess Appreciation event!  We were missing a couple due to illness, but we still had fun with six stampers in attendance!  I thought I would share the projects we made after our lunch; sorry I have no photos of my girls or the food.....camera forgotten!!!  Anyway, I HAD to make something with Hey, Chick....I encouraged them to do some watercoloring on this card:

A little detail of this cutie:

Then we made a candy favor (at first glance, it looks like a ketchup bottle!) using Jars of Love, Sealed with Love and Sending Love DSP along with SU's 2x8" cello bags:

I notice my topper got bent on the way home!  Oh well!  This was a fun project, especially filled with "kisses"!!  Last, we made a Valentine's card--I probably got this from Pinterest, but I didn't save it, so I don't know to whom to give the credit, sorry!  We did ours in Pool Party and Calypso Coral so we could use A Little Foxy DSP for the envelopes!

One of the things we always do is a hand-stamped gift exchange.  We played a game and passed around the gifts, and this is the one I got....my gift-giver was Audrey, the granddaughter of my friend Billie (and daughter of Billie's daughter, Jill....who are all wonderful stampers), and Audrey is only ten!  I love the topper she created....

Check out this cool 3D sticker she used:

And I am pretty sure I know someone who will LOVE those lollipops!  The gift I created seems rather tame after Audrey's!  It's a little note pad covered with Fruit Stand DSP with a matching pen:

It used the new set Day at the Beach along with Labeler Alphabet!  If you would like info about any of the projects, email me!!!  No pix of Cassidy today, she was away for the weekend, so check back tomorrow!!   Have a blessed day!

Hostess Appreciation Party

Hi everyone!  I promised I would show you some photos from Sunday’s Hostess Appreciation party!  Here are the projects we made:

A gold-embellished note card:

A fun Gingham Garden and Love You to the Moon combo:

And I apologize, but I just could not get a better shot of this Love banner using Fresh Prints, Fabulous Phrases and Morning Post Alphabet:

Here are some individual shots (still not that great!):

The colors are so fun and vibrant, I just love these colors!  Sorry they don’t look so hot here…you’ll just have to take my word for it!

And here are the wonderful hostesses who attended:

Debbie, Lesley & Joan:

Sandy & Ellen:

Beth & Jill:

Billie & Sandy:

and Linda & Athena:

We played a couple games:

exchanged gifts:

and did some stamping……and Athena DID fix her banner (but she had us cracking up until she did!):

Here are the little gift bags I made for everyone:

and I think we all had a blast!  I know I did! Thank you, hostesses!

DD35 & KIS5

Happy Thursday, peeps!  Sadly, I needed a sympathy card this week.  My friend Sherry introduced me to a new challenge site, Keep it Simple, and their challenge this week was to use a frame:

I think I probably have not used this Apothecary Art set for a year…but it seemed appropriate since I used the Dynamic Duos challenge colors of So Saffron and Certainly Celery:

I made my frame by cutting two pieces of cereal box cardboard with the Labels diecuts, gluing them together and covering it with some So Saffron Patterns DP.  I stamped the image and colored it with ink and a blender pen, then added my ribbon embellishment.

Teeny Tiny Wishes provided the sentiment, and I mounted it on a piece of textured Certainly Celery cardstock. 

I promised some pix from Sunday’s Hostess Appreciation Party!  Here are my sweet hostesses, stamping away:

Robyn, Ruth, Linda and Jill:

Wendy, Sandy, Beth & Joan;

and Donna, Ellen, Billie and Athena!  Don’t they look like they are having fun?  We missed Anna and Lorraine, though!  I’ll share the projects we made tomorrow!

Stampin’ Fun

I promised I would share some photos from the stamping event I attended on Sunday.  My sideline, Carol, hosted a wonderful holiday card shoebox swap with fun projects, door prizes and yummy food!  This post is a bit picture-heavy, so I hope you don’t mind!  I also hope I got all the cards matched with the right people….there were a couple of gals all the way at the end of the table I didn’t get to interact with, so I am hoping I got them right!  Anyway, I hope this gives you some inspiration for your own cards!

Here are the swaps we got to make:

And here are the participants:

Allison & her SIL Laura, who is my downline:

Hostess Carol and Helen, who is Laura’s mom!

Yours truly and my stampin’ buddy, Barb:

Barb again and my sweet friend Denise, the Paper Landscaper:

Carol’s DH Leo and Joanne:

Nance and hostess Carol:

Carol has an amazing stamp room, and we had a blast!!!  Thanks, Carol!  Now, let’s get ready for that turkey!

Shabby Ribbon Tutorial

I’ve had several people ask about how I make a shabby, vintage-looking ribbon and bow like the one on these projects:

It’s really easy, so I threw together a few photos to help you along the way.  In these shots, I used Stampin’Up!’s Rose Red seam binding, but I have also used store-bought steam binding as well. (I haven’t tried it with any other kind of ribbon---it needs to be the seam binding, as it is soft enough to crinkle!)  Pull off a good yard or so (or more if you want to do a whole supply of it---might as well!), and let’s get to work:

Easy as pie!  Much faster than my old method of heating it in the oven!!!  You can make as few or as many loops as you want; this one only has two on each side; and trim your tails to the size you want too.  I have found that a hot glue gun is the best way to attach them to your project.  You can also add a button, brad or charm to the center.

I have dyed white seam binding with SU inks; it is a little messy, and you have to experiment with the dyes as you may not get as dark a color as you like, or you may need to mix colors.  Just dilute the dye with a little bit of water in a baggie or on your silicone craft sheet and mush the seam binding around until it is all saturated (remember tie-dying?).  I like to squeeze out the excess using a paper towel wrapped around my seam binding, remove it from the paper towel,  and then proceed right to the microwave.  Have fun!  Here’s another project I made a few months ago:

 

And a few more swaps from the meeting last week:

From Kathi Davis:

From my downline Kathy Kelly-Borowski:

And from my downline Laura Chambers:

Wonderful cards!

Playing with my great-nephew Trent in his sandbox at Uncle Raymond’s!!!

Enjoy your day!