Papertrey's July 2011 Blog Hop

I happened to check out Nichole's blog and saw a beautiful inspiration photo. There is a July 2011 blog hop going on, so I had to give it a try.

It took me less than 5 minutes to put this one together. I wish I had picked  a different blue background, as mine is too blue rather than more blue-green. I think I will have to make more though, as it was a quick one! Time to get some rest!



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SFYTT2011 July

Another post for today. This is one I have worked on a while back, but just haven't posted about it yet. This is my take on I (heart) 2stamp Sketch for You to Try July 2011 sketch. My Favorite Things is supporting the sketch this month. I heart MFT!! A few years ago, I had an opportunity to meet the owner at a card swap. Not that she would remember, as it was a group event. She had stopped by to drop off some stamps for us to try. She gave each of us a Who's That Girl Mother Day cling set. She made a loyal costumer out of me! Every time I order online, I get quick service. This may due to the fact that I live in sunny Florida like she does. She has a store opening coming up this August 2011! I plan to be there and better my copic coloring skills! I love their Pure Innocence and a La Modes images. For this particular sketch, I used Apple For You. I really wanted to use my apples from a K & Co. Greenhouse dp I had. So to make it work, I felt it looked better going down the side versus in a group. Now it's time for me to give my little family some attention!! :0)

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Cookies!!

I love cookies. Chocolate chip, snickerdoodles, gingerbread men, peppermint chocolate, key lime thumbprints, etc... During each Christmas season, I have made homemade goodies for families, friends, and coworkers. Just last year, I started experimenting with sugar cookies with icing. I didn't like the idea of using raw eggs for my royal icing and discovered a great meringue icing recipe from Bake at 350F. I even made my own favors for my wedding last October. I cannot find my butterfly sugar cookie pictures... but the actual cookies were yummy! I used Williams and Sonoma's sugar cookie recipe. Instead of a vanilla bean, I use a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Here's a picture taken from my wedding photographer of my favors. Underneath the bike tag are two mini butterfly cookies peeking through, a triple chocolate cakeball, a small box with green jelly bellys, and another small box with chocolate covered expresso beans. (My wedding colors were green, brown, and white/ivory.)

This past Mother's Day, in my classroom, I decided to make more cookies for my Mother's Tea for those mommies who come in on a weekly basis to help out. I typically have a berry tea theme. This time my sugar cookies were not fun to make! I had issues with the icing. My butterfly experience was easier, as they were tiny bite size cookies. These were much bigger.

I think that the difficult part for me was getting the right consistency, as I am used to making gingerbread houses and the icing should be more fluid.

My mommy helpers were feeling appreciated at their tea. They had sweet treats and berry themed gifts: strawberry hand lotion, thanks berry much frame from my class, berry note cards, strawberry tea, a heart shaped strawberry box filled with strawbery chocolate, and strawberry cookies. My kindergarteners recited and acted out poems. They also served the moms juice, tea, and sweets. Here are some photos from previous years:

I used Papertrey's berry images and sentiments. I  believe from two different sets: Green Thumb and Punny Valentine.

Inside each strawberry are a couple chocolate kisses. The strawberry template was found on Splitcoaststampers. I found this site using a Bigshot Flower die to make the strawberry.

Today, I decided to attempt to make sugar cookies again for my upcoming cupcake exchange party. Instead of using a cheaper brand of meringue powder, I used the one from Williams Sonoma as the lady from Bake at 350 suggested. I noticed a significant difference. I made one bowl of white meringue royal icing. I used my Williams Sonoma containers to put my icing on. First the white and then flooded it. Then I made some pink for the cherry on top and dots in my white icing. Then I made green for the cupcake holder.

These were fun to make. I didn't make such a big mess. I only have 3 gel icing colors from Wilton's: leaf green, black, and Christmas Red. A little red makes a vibrant pink! I bought my cupcake cookie cutter from Crate and Barrel. I changed the Williams and Sonoma sugar cookie recipe by using whole wheat flour and vanilla extract. I made my meringue icing on the runny side. I added an orange extract, rather than my typical vanilla, and it tasted yummy!! Yeah, I think that I am becoming more successful at making sugar cookies with royal icing!!

Tomorrow, after the icing has dried, I plan to add pink sanding sugar to the top cherry. Then I will package them in clear bags with pretty ribbon. My cupcake exchange party is coming up soon!! I have been working on various projects for this party. My color theme is pink, green, white, and a hint of brown. I plan to take lots of cupcake photos!! Have a wonderful weekend!
 

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Back to School Treats

I still have a few weeks left of summer before the new school year starts. I will go back the second week of August. So it's time for me to prepare for the new school year. To start, I made these treat bags for my kindergarten teammates. I used my new die, Mat Stack #5, from Papertrey and made quick tags for my mini white lunch bags. Inside are apple themed items: apple scented hand gel, apple sticky notes, and chocolates. The chocolates were wrapped with mailing labels stamped with Papertrey's Limitless Labels. On the back of the tags, I wrote some happy notes for the first day of school.

On the first day of school, I read to my class, The Kissing Hand, which is about Chester the raccoon and his anxiety about the first day of school. Here are some favors I made inspired by this link. Instead of making a raccoon puppet or box, I made a raccoon topper out of SU's top note die. I think my new kindergarteners will smile when I give these treats to them. I made these by folding Stamping Up's top note die in half. To make the white mask, I used on white top note and made a template by cutting a V into it. I used a sharpie to color in the blacks on the white. I used a 3/4" circle punch and the owl punch to make the eyes and noses. I used SU's scallop punch to make the paws. I used Spellbinder's Scallop Hearts to cut out my first day notes and attached it to small glassine bags filled with Hershey's hugs and kisses.

Have a wonderful weekend!! I'm off to the post office to mail some packages and then to a Turkish restaurant with my husband to eat some yummies!

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Tea Time

Papertrey had their July countdown and I almost forgot about the Make it Monday challenge. This week's challenge involves creating a pocket with border dies. I do not have any border dies, but I do have a couple border punches. I used my scallop one to make a tea pocket for my tea bag. I also incorporated two of Splitcoaststamper's challenges: F4A73 Twine and WT331 Crazy Collage. I have not made a stamped collage before and I used several to create the collage on my tea pocket. I stamped with Elzybell's tea/coffee background with vintage cream. It is not easily seen in my picture. I used a leafy branch from Papertrey's Life to stamp in old olive. I also used creamy caramel to stamp mini butterflies from Butterfly Kisses and a sentiment from Tea for Two. I also stamped other images from Tea for Two to decorate my plain chamomile tea bag.

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Using SU's Scallop Envelope Die

Last year, I purchased SU's Scallop Envelope Die to make cute little Ghirardelli chocolate holders for Halloween. I only used it that one time. That is not worth the $20 I spent on it. So I decided it's time to make use of it. For my upcoming cupcake exchange party, I need some favor ideas. I made this Ghirardelli chocolate holder, similiar to the ones I made last year. Chic 'N Scratch has a great video tutorial to make it. These are pretty easy to put together!

Here's a close up side view...



Another idea from Splitcoaststampers is the Scallop Envelope Box. This was pretty easy to put together as well. I think a normal size cupcake would fit in it! Here's one I made with the owl and cupcakes. The owl came from a stamp set that I got at Joann's called Whimsical Birds. The cupcake came from Michael's in the dollar bin section.

 


Since my mom's birthday was today, I used the Scallop Envelope die to make her a gift card holder. Normally, the die is too small to fit a gift card in it. Here are two tutorials to show you how to make it larger.
Picture tutorial: Gift card holder
Video tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DogmOPte8-k

I used VLVJul2011Week2 sketch for my mom's birthday card in the background. The butterfly image came from Verve Visual's Fluttering By. The sentiment "sending you birthday wishes" came from Michael's dollar bin section. The "for you" sentiment came from Papertrey's Fillable Frames #5.

Here is a closer view of the gift card holder. I made the flower by following the video tutorial by Tara. I did not have the five petal flower punch that she had. I tried my six petal punch one and the SU scallop die. Both worked following her tutorial.

Here's a closer look at my mom's bday card.

While browsing online, here are a couple other creative ways others have used the scallop envelope die:

• Sunshine, Smiles, & Stamps Scallop Envelope Die Note Card Holder
• Stampin' Pretty's Decorated Scallop Envelopes
• Sharon's Santa Gift Card Holder
• Easter Basket Youtube Tutorial (uses 6 scallop envelopes)
• Sandi's Little Bunny Box
• Scallop Gift Card Holder (different alteration)

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Wow! I Won!

I was stunned when I found out that I was the lucky winner of Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday #21! Nichole's blog is one that I tend to frequently visit during the beginning of a month. This is when she and her team of designers show sneak peeks and samples of what will be available soon. I did not think to check the winner, until today, when I came here to my blog and saw my last entry. While there on Nichole's blog, I saw my owl card, and I thought to myself, "That's weird. That linky thing recognizes me." Then I saw my name and had to do a double take. I called out to Robert (my husband) and we did a happy dance. First time I won something online!! I have a list of wants from Papertrey Ink's store, but the Baby Button Bits was next on my list. The funny thing is I put an order in earlier this week, not knowing about the prize. Now I will have two Papertrey packages coming in the mail! I hope your week is going as fantastically as mine!

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Papertrey's Polaroid 2-Step Masking

Earlier this week, I found out that Nichole Heady posted a challenge for Papertrey's Polaroid 2-Step Masking. Apparently, she has had these Monday challenges going on and this particular one is #21. A video tutorial  using this technique can be found here at her Inspired Papertrey blog. If you had not had a chance to visit her blog, you should check it out! I love her style and have learned so much from her tutorials.

I ended up making two cards this past week using this technique inspired by the tutorial. The first one uses Papertrey's Butterfly Kisses. This is one of my first stamp sets bought from Papertrey. I happen to love butterflies, so it was enticing!

The second one uses Papertrey's Wise Owl, Life, and Out on a Limb. I also have no self control when it comes to owls.
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I hope everyone has a Happy July 4th weekend!!

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Surgery Went Well!

My husband's surgery went well. He is suppose to be resting, but he tends to want to move around. While waiting for him at the hospital, I got to surf and see the new SU catalog. I do like the new Ronald McDonald set. I think that will be my next stamp set.

When I got home, I had time to finish up my friend's bridal shower favors. I made 15 of them, not counting the white one. I kept them simple by just using pattern paper and ribbon. (See previous post for link to template.) The bride-to-be's favorite color is pink. Inside the boxes are some Hershey kisses. Here they are:

Here's another picture:





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