Simply LOVE, Always!

SIMPLY LOVE, ALWAYS!

This card is created for two challenges today! First a LOVE card for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply, Love is in the Air, #72 Challenge! I love her challenges...they are no stress and simple! Check her blog, NoTimeToStamp? for all the info! This also fits the challenge over at Splitcoaststampers. The challenge for limited supplies today is simple! Stickers with minimal stamping is pretty simple! The red glitter stickers are FaLaLa from Making Memories. The beaded heart was purchased at Michaels. Fiskars threading water border punch was used for the bottom of card front. It is so hard to photo a clear card! Ugh! Hopefully you can get a good idea of the layout! Glue dots are placed behind the stickers on the inside front to attach SU black cardstock so adhesive will not show! I used my Papertreyink Heart Prints for inside sentiment. I like the way the word, Love, on the front flows to the inside to complete the sentiment; Love Always! I used StazOn white to stamp Always, and then went over the word with my white InkEssentials pen. The StazOn was not white enough for me! I hope you have had a good week! I have been under the weather, hence my lack of posting! I think it's a virus going around! Still not up to par, but getting better!

Take good care and Have a Great Weekend!

It's a Strawberry Honorable Mention!

In this picture, you can see a couple strawberry treats up close! I placed one in a shortened pretzel rod cello bag for a single treat! The tag and heart were stamped with my new Papertreyink Heart Prints. The strawberry stems are plastic and non edible of course! They were purchased at a local cake decorating store. I used a family recipe for these strawberries, found below but want to share with you, I did google this type of treat and found many variations! The RECIPE: 1 package Strawberry Jello powder, 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, 2 1/2 cups flaked coconut, 1 1/2 tsp. powdered sugar, 2/3 cup ground almonds, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, Wilton pink sparkling sugar Mix all ingredients Take a small amount of mix and mold with fingers into strawberry shape, roll in pink sugar then place on wax paper. After strawberries are completed, insert stem for presentation! The strawberry treats are so simple to make and they look just beautiful! All varied sizes and sparkling from the pink sugar! I decided I wanted a special way to present the bag of strawberries. I placed the bag in a glass mug, then tied the bag with Papertreyink's new Raspberry Fizz ribbon! Using one of my all time favorite Papertreyink stamp sets, Green Thumb, I stamped a strawberry to attach to the ribbon and to make a gift card, completing the set. Since I am gifting the strawberries in a mug, I wanted a gift card to include a tea bag! The little gift card's inside holds the tea bag by scoring and folding up a flap secured with brads. I stamped the flap with a sentiment from Heart Prints, as well as a small heart to attach for the tea bag tag! Perfect! I am so excited that Nichole over at Papertreyink chose this project as one of her HONORABLE Mentions this month! I LOVE working with all the Papertreyink products and get so much inspiration from her and her talented design team! Go check out Nichole's blog, Capture the Moment, to get the scoop on her upcoming anniversary celebration too!

It means so much to me when you stop in and visit Explore.Dream.Discover. Thank you so much and hope you stop by again soon! Take good care and have a great weekend!

JustRite Day FIVE Peek! It's A Hoot

This is my last day as guest blogger over on the JustRite blog! I have so enjoyed preparing these creations everyday this week! Today's project is a special Valentine's Day project! One that "Owl" bet will be a hoot for your special Valentine! I hope you like it, check out all the details on the JustRite BLOG! Again, a huge THANK YOU to JustRite for having me blog this week, and I look forward to making many more JustRite items as a member of their team! So be sure to stop in regularly here at Explore.Dream.Discover. and check it out!

Take good care! Tomorrow I have a wonderful project that I shared over on the Papertreyink site and received an Honorable Mention for it too! Can't wait for you to see it!

It's a Sweet Day FOUR JustRite Peek

A JustRite sweet idea for Day FOUR! All the details are on the JustRite BLOG, from start to finish! Go take a look, same idea, three different looks! And be sure to scroll down to look through this weeks posts that include CHA peeks! If you are attending CHA, I hope you get the opportunity to check out the JustRite make and takes with Debbie Olsen and Sharon Harnist ! What an opportunity!

Thank YOU for all your kind words and well wishes as I join the JustRite team! What an honor to design among the talent on this team and I look forward to working with all the amazing JustRite products. I hope you'll come along so we can explore, dream, and discover together! Take good care and I will be back tomorrow with Day FIVE!

It will be a HOOT! (hint)

JustRite PEEK! Day THREE!

Day THREE JustRite peek is here! Go to the JustRite BLOG to see the project from start to finish! This is one of my favorites of the week! After you check it out, you will understand why! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope your week is going well! Please stop by tomorrow for a peek at Day FOUR! It will be a sweet (hint!)one!

Take Good Care!

Day TWO JustRite Peek!

Here is a peek at the Day Two project I created for JustRite! Head on over to their BLOG and check out all the photos and details!

There is new product to check out too as JustRite prepares to go to CHA! Debbie Olsen and Sharon Harnist will be at the CHA JustRite booth! I hope you will be able to create one of the many make and takes with them!

Thank you so very much for visiting! Take good care and see you tomorrow for DAY THREE!

JustRite Day One Peek!

Just a peek at the Day One creation for JustRite! You can view all the other photos and info on JustRite's BLOG! Hope you like! While your're there, check out the peeks for CHA! I believe I'm going to have a whole lotta fun with the new stamps!

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR TAKING TIME TO VISIT! TAKE GOOD CARE AND I HOPE YOU COME BACK TOMORROW FOR the JustRite Day two creation!

Valentine Tube Treats

I am so excited to let you know, I will be a guest blogger over at JustRite for the next five days! As JustRite prepares for CHA, with sneak peeks over on their blog, they will also post a JustRite creation I made, just for your viewing! It's going to be a great week! I thank you, JustRite for the opportunity to work with your fantastic products! I am blessed.

Aren't these tubes the best for a special treat! I saw this version of a skewer treat on Tammy's blog who saw the same one I did on Andrea's blog! Andrea has created a super video tutorial on the one's she created and shows you the instructions much better than I could ever write for you! Click on both their blogs to check out what they did! I did alter mine to accommodate these nifty, very cool, square, trendy tubes found at Papertreyink. And, obviously I went with a Valentines theme instead of the Christmas theme, Tammy and Andrea used! The tube has a very secure fitting topper, and is nice and clear to show off whatever you place inside! I found these ingredients at my local dollar store and was so pleased with the quality, taste, and freshness! The marshmallows are a most tasty cherry flavor! I used Wilton brand lollipop sticks, 11 3/4" long for my candy skewer. The lollipop stick does not have a sharp point on it to spear the treat well enough without smashing it, so I used a metal skewer, that we use to roast marshmallows on, to create a hole in the center of each candy. Then the candy was ready to be placed on the stick. I knew I wanted the stick to extend through the lid to give me a spot to attach the ribbon, tag, and hearts. I went to my husband's work bench and found a drill bit the diameter size of the stick and simply hand twisted it through the middle of the lid! Worked like a charm! I did cut off about an inch of the lollipop stick with my kitchen scissors as it was a tiny bit too high!

A simple tag with a heart brad is hung around the stick first. The ribbon is from Papertreyink, Fresh Snow white and Ripe Avocado green. The hearts are stamped twice, using Papertreyink Heart Prints set. I cut them out, embellished the fronts, and shaded the edges. After I ran red line sticky tape on the front and back of the stick above the bows, I pressed on the hearts. A little trim on the bottom of each tube brought the colors together and gave the tube a more finished look! The bottom of each tube can be seen in the first picture above. Thanks so much for stopping by! It really means so much to me when you take the time to visit here! I know there are tons of blogs out there! I'll be back later with some very special news! Stay tuned!

Stamp Simply with Sharon Johnson

WARM WINTER WISHES

I'm thrilled to be able to make a card for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply IT'S STILL WINTER Challenge! Yes, it's still the heart of winter, so BEFORE WINTER LEAVES US we are to make any type of card that makes one think WINTER -- and doing that without using a snowman or snowflake, all the better! Anything WINTER is what she's after! Check out Sharon Johnson's blog, No Time To Stamp? for more information and play along! I chose to use my new Karen Lockhart Stamp on my new inchies, perfect for a winter card! Image is colored with Koh-i-noor Woodless Pencils, blended with stumps and odorless turpentine. The mitten cuffs are fuzzy with flower soft applied with a glue pen. Cuttlebugged snowflake panel lends a texture base for the mittens and sentiment. I decided I wanted create my own sentiment, WARM WINTER WISHES. So, out came my handy JUST RITE Curlz Font and rectangular stamper.

JUST RITE fonts enable you to create whatever wording you desire! Using my 1 3/8 x 3 1/2 wooden rectangular stamper, I selected my letters and pressed them into the grooved surface. Here is the CURLZ fonts out of the box to show you the trays they are stored on. They stack on one another making storage easy with a top clear cover fitting on the top tray. There are five trays. I also want you to check out the three sizes of fonts that are in the set. 25pt, 50pt, and 95pt. I used size 50pt for the first letters of my words and 25pt on the remaining letters. All these options allows making custom sayings a snap!

Inked with Chalk Box warm red, I stamped my sentiment and used the largest die from spellbinders, tag trio. On the tag, an adhesive red gem for accent, with foam dimensionals popping the sentiment up completes the card. I LOVE the endless possibilities creating my own sayings using JUST RITE stampers. It's so easy and well, makes it just right!

Thanks so much for visiting today! Remember to check the Valentine LOVE blog candy HERE. Take good care and have a wonderful weekend. May it be filled with warmth, fun, and laughter for you and those you love.

Valentine LOVE for the Children and blog candy for you!!!

VALENTINES FOR CHILDRENS HOSPITAL

Yesterday I posted about my friend Julie Koerber. And shared about her Mom, Pat Adam who does volunteer work for Children's Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. She founded and heads up a charity called Cards 4 Kids. The administrator of Children’s Hospital recently contacted Pat and asked if she could come up with 1,000 Valentines! I have joined other stampers to help reach Pat this goal! My goodness, can you imagine the smiles from these children when they all get Valentines and then some to exchange and send! Will you help? For the children? If you can help reach this worthwhile goal for such a precious cause, please email Pat at mrsmiley6@aol.com for information and all the details. Julie and Pat along with other designers are offering blog candy for those who participate. Be sure to check these blogs for that information! And, read on Pat’s Blog about How Cards 4 Kids got started. Julie Koerber - outoimpress Pat Adam - The Rubbermaid Regina Easter - Hand to Paper Jennifer Buck - The Buck Stamps Here

After posting yesterday, I am thrilled to share that one of the owners of OUR CRAFT LOUNGE, Cambria Turnbow contacted me and asked if she could donate a stamp set as candy to help the cause! Check out her blog, Stamp a Little Love, Baby and peek at the adorable Valentine she made! Leave a comment on this blog entry, contact Pat and send your Valentine donation and I'll throw your name in the hat to win the stamp set below, Pat the Dog. Thanks so much, Cambria! YOU rock!

Here are a few more pics of the Valentines I will be sending to Pat. All images are stamped with Memento tuxedo black ink and color added with Copic markers. A little bit of ribbon, adhesive pearls, gems, buttons, and heart rain dots add a bit of pizazz to the simple, easy, and oh so cute Anna Mae! The images are from stamp set, Anna Mae found at OUR CRAFT LOUNGE!

The Valentine sentiment is from Dr. Pea-Nut also found at OUR CRAFT LOUNGE. I was able to curve the sentiment and stamp right where I needed it to be! Gotta love that! Here they all are friends! All ready to be packaged and sent to Pat. I cannot tell you how fun and rewarding it is to be part of a community that desires to give back! The children are worth it! They are waiting for us to shower them with Valentine LOVE! Will you help? And win some blog candy too? Remember to leave a comment on this blog entry and I will pick a winner on Friday, January 17th. Good Luck everyone!

Thanks so much for visiting today! Please direct anyone to this blog post to get info on how they can help! I appreciate your willingness to share and especially your love for the children! Take good care!

For the Children, Will You Help?

VALENTINES FOR THE CHILDREN

You have read about my friend Julie Koerber here on my blog from time to time! Well, her Mom does volunteer work for Children's Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. I also live in Michigan and actually used to live in the Detroit area for many years. Her name is Pat Adam and she heads up a charity called Cards 4 Kids. The administrator of Children’s Hospital recently contacted Pat and asked if she could come up with 1,000 Valentines! This is quite the undertaking for Pat to come up with that many Valentines! So, I am joining other stampers to help. My goodness, can you imagine the smiles from these children when they all get Valentines to exchange and send!

Will you help? For the children? If you can help reach this worthwhile goal for such a precious cause, please email Pat at mrsmiley6@aol.com for information and all the details.

Julie and Pat along with other designers are offering blog candy for those who participate. Be sure to check these blogs for that information! And, read on Pat’s Blog about How Cards 4 Kids got started.

Julie Koerber - outoimpress

Pat Adam - The Rubbermaid

Regina Easter - Hand to Paper

Jennifer Buck - The Buck Stamps Here

I chose to use my new stamp set, Anna Mae from Our Craft Lounge to create some girly Valentines! I made a bakers dozen and have some to show you today! I will post the rest tomorrow!

Every card is stamped with Memento tuxedo black ink and some color added with Copic Markers. On each card, I placed a gem, button, rain heart dot, pearl, or ribbon! Just a little something to add that extra pizazz!

Tiny blue gems and a larger yellowish gold adorns Anna Mae's dress on this Valentine! Being that the stamps are clear, I was able to curve the sentiment over Anna Mae's hands and see clearly where I wanted to stamp it.

A smaller photo of a grouping, so you can check out the purple dressed Anna Mae! Love the little ribbon and pearl on this Valentine! The happy Valentine's sentiment is from another Our Craft Lounge set, Dr. Pea-Nut.

Thank you for checking in today! I appreciate your visit! Please consider helping Pat reach the goal of 1,000 Valentines, I know we can do it! Take good care!