Maelie's Mama's Crafts

out with Christmas, in with Valentine's!

2012-01-02T18:31:00.002-05:00

It's never too early to start working on the next holiday! I fell in love with the Spellbinders Nestabilities Heart Circles!! These work very well with the Big Shot...!

Christmas cards galore!

2011-11-28T06:46:00.005-05:00

Here are a bunch of Christmas cards I worked on recently, most of them this weekend! I am almost done... then I have to mail them out!!

Not sure which is my favorite... I love the sleigh - in person it's so much nicer!

Which is your favorite?

** all ideas were either CASEd or inspired by online projects, creations were not my own.

working on christmas cards

2011-11-23T09:53:00.002-05:00

I am diligently working on my Christmas cards right now!

We are also having weekly Christmas card making workshops at work. This is the card we are making today :)

I love the big gluttery snowflakes! :) Snow makes me smile!

More Halloween party prep!

2011-10-25T05:03:00.004-04:00

Here are a few more of the Halloween goodies I have been working on for Maelie's Halloween party this year. A cello bag with 4 eyeballs in it:

Here are little itty bitty boxes with a spider web wrapped around them (Marthan Stewart punch). I used a die to make the rosettes. It's a lot of worh when you make a ton of them!

The inside of the box contains 4 swiss chocolates from Costco (big tall bags) wrapped with some Halloween patterned cardstock. I like buying graphics off of Etsy. The one I have been using the most is from Amanda Parker. I just have them printed off at Bureau en Gros on cardstock and they are easy to cut out or punch out. The strips that wrap around the chocolates fit perfectly.

One deal I like to pick up is some Pocket Bac at Bath and Body Works when it is on clearance! They always have seasonal stuff, so once the strawberry pocket bacs were on sale, I stocked up for the party. I added an orange ribbon and stamped the "Eek" image on top. The sanitizer is red so it looks like blood! Turned out cute! You always need clean hands to munch on some candy! :)

I really liked this cute "book" style treat. The inside is actually the box that comes from the matchbox die. I don't have the source of this idea at the top of my head, but if I find it, I will come and edit this post.

Here it is when you pull the strap out

and here it is opened up. It was actually a real easy craft to make! and I find it looks amazing :)

A while ago, I got some flarp putty on sale at MIchael's. When I see a good deal like that, I can't pass it up because I know it will be useful for Maelie's Halloween party treats! I just added a Happy Halloween strip around it and voila!

I'm not done.... I still have 4 days before the party, so there IS more to come!! At the end we'll see how it all pulls together!

Earwax for Halloween?

2011-10-21T05:23:00.004-04:00

I saw this idea online and immediately wanted to make it! I was put in charge of the gross tasting table at Naomie's party, so I had to come up with a few gross ideas.

What I did was microwave a few marshmallows for about 10-15 seconds. Then I dipped each tip of the lollipop stick in the marshmallows. They harden up pretty quick yet remain sticky.

After that, I melted some butterscotch chips and then dipped the Q tip into it.

Doesn't it look gross??? (sorry for the bad lighting... 5 am pictures tend to not look as good!)

Halloween treats

2011-10-17T19:14:00.003-04:00

For weeks now we've been working on a few Halloween projects for Maelie's party. Here are some of the treats!

Candy corn in a 1 X 8 bag. I copied this idea from here.

I love this little tag!

Here are some witch hats made with the petal cone die from Stampin Up. We just took off one of the sides and then added a scallop at the bottom. It's filled with Jolly Rancher candy. I also copied this idea from someone online but i forget who.

We made the buckle with glitter cardstock.

Here are little candy holders made the the two tag die. I've been putting my dies to use this season!!

Here you can see the inside. Two small chocolate bars stacked one on top of the other.

Last one for today, this is made with another die - the petal die! I just wrapped up a bag of M&Ms inside. I bought those little tags from Shindig Parties to go. I chose a few different patterns I wanted, then sent them online to Bureau en Gros and had them printed in color on 65 lb cardstock. Turned out perfect!! I just punch out or cut out the shapes I want. It's a much cheaper alternative than printing on my own printer since the ink is so pricey. Plus the finish is a bit glossy at Bureau en gros. They don't have service charges when you order online!

I am very pleased with the treats so far! I have plenty more to go! If you saw my craft table ...... ooooof..... scary!!

Halloween invitations 2011

2011-10-17T19:05:00.003-04:00

Here are Maelie's Halloween 2011 invitations. They are little owls made with the Sizzix pillow die. There are a few rows of punched out circles as his feathers.

On the inside of the pillow box owl,the invitation is attached with a Halloween bakers twine and there is a little owl on the corner of the paper.

Once you open it up, there is another punched out Halloween owl which is actually back to back with the other one.

I love these! They were time consuming but not as bad as some other invitations I've done over the years! LOL

I found the owl idea online from another blog so it is not my creation. I modified it to look Halloweenish though :)

Recent cards

2011-10-08T08:22:00.005-04:00

Here are a few recent cards we worked on for a variety of occasions. They are CASED from other online ideas. :)

Yummy lemonade

2011-08-14T16:14:00.002-04:00

I saw this tasty looking lemonade card recently. It's been going around the web for a while and I thought it would be a nice workshop card to make at work. It can be generic and can have many different flavors! It can be an alcoholized beverage... or not!

Cute suitcase box

2011-07-26T10:31:00.002-04:00

Sonia bought the cutest suitcase die for the Big Shot!I decided to use it to make a suitcase box for Ingvild's departure.

I put some Stampin up ribbon all around to make it look like leather straps. It also helped to keep the suitcase closed.

This is what it looks like when opened. I filled it with some maple leaf shaped chocolates. It is SOOOOOO cute in person! Very tiny and delicate, yet spacey enough for a nice treat!

bubblegum machine gift

2011-06-19T20:27:00.002-04:00

Here is a bubblegum machine gift I made for a friend!
I was inspired by a bubblegum machine party favor i saw online... I got a terra cotta pot and spray painted it red, then I got a glass bowl at dollarama and glue it on top. I put some plastic covered foam in the middle , filled it up with gum, then made some bubblegum machine suckers and planted them in the foam.

Doesn't it look so sweet?

Sympathy cards

2011-05-16T14:46:00.001-04:00

We needed two sympathy cards at work this week (unfortunately). Here are the cards I made for them.

Once again, they look much nicer in person!

Easter goodies

2011-04-24T15:31:00.003-04:00

I got the printable for the cupcakes at THIS website.

I found the idea for these little baskets last year. A friend had made one for me.

These carrots were very popular online this year because of the new Stampin Up cone die.... we just added extra greenery at the end to make it look cuter.

I always liked these cute little baskets... they look so springish!

bday picks, tags and hand sanitizers

2011-04-03T19:07:00.004-04:00

Here are the bday picks I made for Maelie's birthday party. The picks will go on the cupcakes.

I also made some little tags with a thank you note to include in the goodie bags!

I found little green apple pocket bacs the other day on clearance at Bath and body works. They had a leprechaun on them, but I just covered it with the cute little alligator scallops I made!

I think I am almost done with most of the birthday prep. We still have to finish up some little soaps we are making, then package all the goodies up, and bake the cupcakes!

Easter carrots

2011-04-03T18:56:00.002-04:00

I love the carrots that Sonia made!! I will for sure be making a few myself. We saw this idea in a few places on the web, all of them had a different touch. This one is my favorite because of the leaves and the embossing....soooooo cute!!

Chocolates for Maelie's party!

2011-04-03T10:22:00.005-04:00

Here is a pile of bite sized chocolates for Maelie's party. We have alligators, turtles and spiders.

Here's a crocodile sucker:

And here is the Happy Birthday 9 sucker:

Maelie's friends would NOT understand if I didn't make chocolate for her party! They look forward to it!

Here are chocolates that Sonia made for Naomie's party:

I just love the contrast with mine! Such girly cheerful spring colors!!

Bookmarks

2011-04-03T10:00:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I worked on these cute little bookmarks for Maelie's classmates. She will be giving them to her class for her birthday this Friday!

The little arrow spins and so you can put it on whatever saying you wish!

Some spring-ish cards

2011-03-26T05:02:00.002-04:00

Here are a couple cards we recently made at my card making workshop at work. I made a few extra ones so I can have some one hand as well! I always forget to mail my cards though....!!!

Bday party crafting

2011-03-26T04:43:00.005-04:00

Maelie's bday party prep is in full swing! I will probably post a recap on my other blog once the party is over, so we will see everything completed.

These are the cute hand made cupcake holders! Basically, it's a terra cotta pot and saucer painted and glued together! I took the idea on the Blue Cricket Design website, but modified it a bit.

So instead of having a big cake, each child will be getting a cupcake on this stand and they will also take the stand home with them. There is going to be a lizard glued to the rocks on each stand. The finished cupcake will fit inside of the cupcake holder that I cut out with a Sizzix die. The light brown circle on the stand is actually sand paper! It makes a sand texture but without the risk of having sand in your cupcake. The trim around the stand is a glittery cardstock. We can see it shine a little.

Here are the stands all together (minus the lizards.... my glue gun apparently doesn't like to glue lizards... so I will use a hotter one. Have I mentioned before how i LOVE prepping for Maelie's bday party?????

Initially, I had bought a variety of terra cotta pots in different sizes to try and figure out what worked for the cupcakes. Since I had extras of a few sizes, I painted them as well and decorated them with a sand paper trim and then added a pompom trim for a nicer finish! These stands will be used for chocolate and candy at the party.

I stacked two different sizes just so you can get the idea. Not sure if I would stack them at the party without gluing them first! Lots of little 8-9 year old hands may topple it over!

I also decided to get water bottles (our party is off-site) and make little water bottle hangers. Each little hanger will have some individual kool-aid packages.

Kids always love cute stuff! Even if it doesn't last....

I have a bunch of other things I am working on for Maelie's party. Have you noticed the theme yet?? Yes, indeed it is a reptile themed party!

Maelie's bday invitations 2011

2011-02-21T06:00:00.003-05:00

I finally created something on my own! I tend to copy ideas I see online but this time I went with what I saw in my mind. LOL

I am really proud of how Maelie's bday invite turned out! I only made one so far...

Here is the front. It is a 4 X 4 sized easel card. I made faux alligator skin with some embossing powder and an embossing folder from Sizzix.

This is the front view when you slide it open. I cut out the pertinent info of course.

Here is the side view when the card is standing. I find it SO cute!!

I am going to try and add a spider or snake on the bottom, but I need to find just the right size. Since we won't be handing these out until April, I have time to play with them!

The most important thing to me was what Maelie thought since it is for HER bday. She LOVED them! She really loves the fake alligator skin! She is going to be proud to hand them out again this year :)

a germ-free Valentines

2011-01-17T19:43:00.004-05:00

This past weekend I worked on a Valentines project. The idea is copied from a few websites I saw however adding the heart treat cup at the front was my friend Sonia's idea. I made only one like this... my patience is limited!

Here is the side view... you can see the little pocket bac inside.

I absolutely love these little hand sanitizers from Bath and Body works... they were on sale right after Christmas so I picked up a bunch of cupcake ones. They smell SOOOO yummy!!

I saw this idea on many blogs, and so I wouldn't know where the actual original idea came from. So this is just a disclaimer - I copied this idea. It's not original from my own brain!!

Christmas cards

2010-11-19T17:52:00.002-05:00

I've been working on Christmas cards on and off in the past few weeks. All of my ideas come from other peoples websites, so they are not my creations. I have modified a few of the ideas, but I am not claiming these as unique. I've been having some Christmas card making workshops at work so I am constantly trying to find nice ideas!

I fell in love with this first card, and it was also the first one we made at my workshops.

This next one is also one I fell in love with. It is time consuming but well worth it!

I also adore this one. It is very classy. I might choose this one for an upcoming workshop.

Ah..... how I love the holiday season :)

Happy Halloween !

2010-10-31T15:09:00.001-04:00

celery mummies

2010-10-30T05:41:00.002-04:00

Here are some cute little celery mummies. I used vegetable cream cheese inside the celeri and then added little strips of ham. It was SO cute! I found this idea in one of my magazines once again, but I don't remember which one! I will link it once I see it again.

I brought these to work and they disappeared really fast!

Spooky Snacks for school

2010-10-29T07:30:00.003-04:00

This morning I was up at 3 am working on snacks for Maelie's class!! They are not allowed any junk so I found these alternatives online on the FamilyFun website.

Here is a monster mouth with his tongue sticking out! The recipe called for almonds for the teeth but I used cheese since nuts are not allowed at school.

Here is a blurry close up:

Next I made some severed fingers. There are made with string cheese, a tiny bit of cream cheese to hold the nail, and green peppers.

Here is a little close up:

For work I made mini caramel apples and some cupcakes with Halloween sprinkles on then. I can;t wait to see the other stuff at work!! It should be fun!

trick or treats

2010-10-23T06:51:00.002-04:00

Yesterday evening, i worked on finishing some Halloween clored generic smarties treat bags. I find them pretty cute!! I added a little glitter on the tag to make the little pumpkin stand out. Not sur if this will be for the Halloween party or for work!

More projects on the go!! stay tuned!!

Halloween party invitations!

2010-10-20T06:22:00.002-04:00

I had these coffin invitations in mind for quite a while for Maelie's Halloween party. I had prepared some pieces here and there so this week I finally sat down and finished them all. Maelie was SO proud of them!

When you open them up, a piece of cardstock is rolled up and inside, so when you unroll it, you get the invitation with a skeleton attached to it! The leaves are not on the actual invitation. It was just my attempt to hide the specific info. Too bad there were no bats in my choices.

I will be working on party snacks and games and treats...so I will share them as I go along!

Halloween copy cat

2010-10-13T06:32:00.002-04:00

I found this idea on Inking Idaho except she had made it for Christmas. I thought it was such a cute idea!! But then when i saw the pumpkin Lindt chocolate... I thought i HAD to try it out for Halloween!!

When the little card comes out, there is just enough room for a nice little Hallowen note! So cute!!

candy boxes

2010-09-20T16:20:00.002-04:00

I LOVE the candy box die for the Big shot...

Here are a few things I made with it for a swap we had at Tracie's house:

the gift!

2010-09-10T17:00:00.004-04:00

Here is the gift from the sneak peak! I am so happy Kath was able to get it during her first week at work after maternity leave... I knew it would cheer her up!!! She has taken interest in knitting in the past year or so... so I figured she would need a few gift tags to go with her creations!!

dangerous mudslide

2010-09-06T17:16:00.001-04:00

So what do you do when someone sends you a note and includes a recipe for mudslide cookies with it??

You make them! That's what!

Amazingly tasty....!

Sneak peak

2010-09-06T11:51:00.002-04:00

I hate waiting when I make a surprise for someome!! I just want to give it to them right away!! I get SO excited!

I have to be strong though and keep my surprise a surprise. Even if it kills me!!

But here is a sneak peak.

That's IT. You will not hear anything else about this until it has been given!!

a gift for my boss

2010-08-16T20:55:00.002-04:00

My boss was away for a week so I decided to make her a little welcome back gift! She is really awesome... so I wanted to brighten up her office a little and make her smile on her first day back to work!

Hmmmm... as of today, there were only 3 flowers left in the pot... I wonder what happened?? :)

Where has my mind been?

2010-08-05T06:49:00.003-04:00

Thinking of Halloween....

Only 2 and a half months to go!!! gotta get a move on!!

new cards

2010-07-19T06:58:00.002-04:00

I went to Tracie's house yesterday and brought along some tart & tangy water bottles. The ladies enjoyed them so I though I would post the link to the recipe for the sachet holder again. I found it on Nancy Riley's blog iStamp.

I've been working on a bunch of cards in the past week! Here are some of them:

The original idea for this one would stem from here. But I got the idea for the owl one on Stampin' Connection.

These inspiration for these three below come from Angelstar Stampin' Creations.

The two cards that I haven't credited yet, I will add the info later because I have to look for the links and I will be late for work if i procrastinate some more!!

New owl punch

2010-07-14T20:40:00.003-04:00

Today, Natalie, Sonia and I got together to work on some owl cards! They both ordered the Stampin' up owl punch and it was delivered today... so it was a date! We sat down with ideas we found online.

Natalie sent me a card from Rose's world today. All three of us decided to work on a card inspired by this one. It's always interesting to see what different ideas we come up with! Look at our results....

Mine is the one with the striped orange ribbon. I LOVE that ribbon!!

When I saw this sample on Jill Hilliard's blog, I fell in love! I HAD to make this card immediately! I added a ribbon and leaf though to just add a bit of color.

We ran out of time today as it was getting late, but the next sample we want to work on is this one from Angelstar's Stampin' creations.

It was an awesome evening!!

a quick textured card

2010-07-13T05:38:00.002-04:00

Yesterday as I was tidying up my craft table (which is my kitchen table), I couldn't help myself but try a quick card! I copied the idea from Becky Roberts of Inking Idaho. I just need to add a sentiment. When I went to add the flower to the right, I noticed that with my choice of ribbon, it actually looked better on the left, on top of the knot. I also layered it in Old olive cardstock, and asked Maelie her opinion on the top part. Do I leave it green or do i cover it in white textured cardstock? Her suggestion was to leave it green. It's too bad that you can't feel the texture on a picture!! It is the charming part of the card!

2 more cuties

2010-07-10T19:15:00.002-04:00

Today I worked on these two cards. As usual, they are not my creation. I copied them from other talented crafters!

This one is based on a card I saw on Andrea Walford's site. I LOVED the idea of a strip of glitter! So I just used different paper but kept the general idea and layout.

This little ladybug one comes from Flowerbug's Inkspot. I fell in love with the little ladybugs! They are so cute!

Summertime

2010-07-10T06:05:00.003-04:00

Here are two cards I CASED that remind me of summer!

The first card was copied from Flowerbug. Thereare always AMAZING projects on there! I just turned the card around and added leaves instead of the vines because I didn't have that die. I think it looks fuller with the leaves, so depending on the look you were aiming for.. there are so many ways to do it!

This next one, I am actually looking for where I found it! As I mentioned before, I print out the ideas and so if there isn't a watermark on them, I don't usually remember where they came from. I don't take credit for the ideas if they don't come from my head. I LOVE copying ideas and give credit to the right people when I have the info.

Both cards have glitter and look a million times better in person!!

Baby card

2010-07-08T19:35:00.003-04:00

We recently had a new baby in our family... so we had to work on baby cards! We found this idea on Sandi Maciver's blog. I made it in blue. Natalie made it in pink.

Isn't it SO cute??

watermelon cards

2010-07-07T19:21:00.004-04:00

I decided to try making these cute little watermelon cards today. I got the idea from Heidi Tekunoff on Stampin' Connection. I can't link to that site because it is only for SU demo's, but it's important to give credit!

I made one card in french and one in english. It was a very simple and cute card to make! I LOVE it! It's much better in person... you can see the cute green bling!

I'm a copy cat!

2010-07-05T06:53:00.003-04:00

I CASE'd 2 cards this weekend. Problem is, I printed out the pics of what I want to make a while back and sometimes there is no link on the print out!

So my disclaimer: these beautiful cards were not invented by myself. They were copied.

The pics are a bit dark, but I didn't have time to take them outside for a photo session as I am still in my jammies and need to get to work! LOL

birthday chef card

2010-07-05T06:50:00.002-04:00

Here is a card I worked on this weekend for a birthday today. So many of my cards are "girlier", but I needed one for a guy. So i had to avoid flowers!!

Last day of school

2010-06-23T15:48:00.002-04:00

Here is the card Maelie gave to her teacher with a gift card for the movies. I got this idea here. It was very easy and SO cute that I would have liked to give it to myself!

Here are a few boxes for some teachers.

... and a few packaged chocolate covered pretzels.

Here are Maelie's water bottles packed up and ready to go!

End of school treats

2010-06-22T06:57:00.004-04:00

Here are the end of school treats I worked on yesterday for Maelie's class. I am sure they will rip them apart in 5 seconds (I spwnt 3.5 hours making them) haha but it is worth it! Maelie is always proud to give her classmates something handmade.

here is a top view of three of them:

Here is a bit of a front view:

I found the measurements on Nancy Riley's blog and basically CASED her idea! She always has amazing ideas!!

a birthday gift

2010-06-19T06:45:00.002-04:00

Today Natalie and I are hosting a strawberry workshop. One of the people joining us had a birthday yesterday.... and so I made her one of these bouquets! I found a different container at Buck or two and it turns out that i love it much more than any other container i used previously!! It looks MUCH better in person!!

I asked her if she could bring her cooler to the workshop today, but didn't say why! I sure hope she doesn't check out my blog this morning! LOL

If you do Sonia.... Happy Birthday!!

it's the little things....

2010-06-19T06:35:00.003-04:00

These guys here bring me such joy.

I don't know what it is! But I would much rather have these tall vases filled with ribbon decorating my house than some expensive decorations! It's the simplicity of it all I guess.

I got a big lego container filled with empty spools at a yard sale the other day. I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with that!!

a few cards today

2010-06-06T20:49:00.001-04:00

Here are a few cards we worked on today.
Lighting not so good... but i guess it's not a photo contest LOL

sunflower

2010-06-03T06:02:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I worked on this little sunflower card. Unfortunately the picture doesn't do it justice. The petals are all curled a little and you don't see that effect in the picture at all.

Strawberries

2010-06-01T17:53:00.002-04:00

Natalie and I are working on a strawberry workshop this month.

What do you think of these little party favors?

Simple and sweet!

Flower delight

2010-06-01T16:47:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I worked on a bouquet of flower for work. We had things that were due and our team team was a bit behind. I sent an e-mail with an incentive saying that whoever sent back their learning plan would get a chance to win a prize....

This is the prize I worked on :

It was pretty funny working on this project in this heat! Every time I touched any part of a flower, it would melt!

We will find out who the lucky winner is tomorrow! I *LOVE* raffling things off!! I hope the winner enjoys it!

a few new cards

2010-05-30T08:46:00.002-04:00

A lady from Maelie's school is coming over today to make some thank you cards for medical staff who tended to her daughter while she was ill. She liked the idea of an easel card because people will keep it for the picture!

This morning I thought I would work on a plain one as a sample so she can see what it will look like. Of course this one is not a thank you one. I just really wanted to use the SMILE stamp I found at Michael's a while back.

This is the side view. The little white part at the bottom is where you can write a message and sign. Better not be a LONG message!

I also finally got the right oval punch to copy this sunflower from someone online. It has a little treat cup with buttons in it. If I had sunflower seeds, I may have filled the cup with that instead. Or M&Ms! I can put something other than Happy birthday of i choose too as it is only holding on with a metal clip.

This one is one I started at Natalie's house the other day but just finished it last night. I tried a new little saying I had never used! i guess i don't give anyone i'm sorry cards! LOL I should make someone mad! Or I guess I could use it as a sympathy card too.

Hmmmm... what do these three cards have in common??

Little basket!

2010-05-26T20:36:00.002-04:00

I was wanting to keep my little project a secret until it was done but I couldn't help myself and post it! I just found it SOOOOOO cute!

We got the tutorial from Stamp n Design.

Isn't it beautiful?? I just want to go pick strawberries right now!!

Little chocolate boxes

2010-05-19T17:58:00.003-04:00

I decided to offer my new colleagues a tiny token of thanks for being so helpful and welcoming for my first week of work last week.

Before 10 am... everyones chocolates were gone! They were left with cute little boxes though! It's good to know I work with a bunch of chocoholics!!!

another favorite flower... Lilacs!

2010-05-09T20:29:00.004-04:00

I seem to have so many favorite flowers!!

I made this card today. I CASED it from a blog, but my print out did not have the name!! I will include it if I find it again.

The angle of the picture isn't the best, but I love this card!! The picture doesn't do it justice really!!!

Thanks for letting me borrow your little tiny punch Natalie!

Grad card

2010-05-06T08:50:00.002-04:00

I LOVE this Graduation card! It is sooooo cute! I CASED it from someone's blog but i cannot find the link! If I do, I will link it.

It's actually so much nicer in person!!

Taste of home challenge on hold!

2010-05-05T19:50:00.003-04:00

When it was time for me to make supper tonight, Maelie explaimed "Mom! I don't want you to make any Taste of Home stuff today!!"

She thinks it is too weird cooking. ahhaha she thinks it's like we eat in a restaurant when I make any of their recipes. LOL and she prefers PLAIN. yes, plain in capital letters. Nothing mixed with anything.

So I gave up and told her to make her own supper then. So she made one of her favorites meals.

Since I didn't have to worry about supper, I ended up finishing up a few cards with the extra materials from the card workshop I had at lunchtime at work today.

Weekly challenge... a mother's day card!

2010-05-04T17:50:00.003-04:00

As mentioned in a previous post, I challenged myself (and anyone who wished to join me) to make a Mother's Day card.

I CASED this card from Flowerbug's Inkspot, who CASED it from Margaret Moody. I guess copying is a sign of flattery!! As long as we give the original person credit!

I REALLY love this card!! and I can see it adapted to MANY occasions.

Everytime I craft with buttons, I think of my late grandmother, Matante. I would always play with her thousands of buttons when I was little. I have my own big bin of buttons now and it is a joy to be able to create something with them and always be reminded of the fun times I had with her.

I miss you Matante!

Tuesday Taste of Home challenge

2010-05-04T17:34:00.002-04:00

Today I opted for something cute! and simple!

Here are the Flutter-by franks!

It is so simple to make and you only need hot dogs and crescent rolls. I used generic IGA brand chicken hot dogs and IGA brand crescent rolls. I usually get Pillsbury, but they had run out! Maelie never likes the Pillsbury crescents and for some reason she ate the IGA ones!

I sided it with Caesar salad for maelie and with cucumbers and snow peas for myself.

I would give it a 7 out of 10.

Monday Taste of Home challenge

2010-05-03T17:43:00.004-04:00

Here is what I made today for the challenge:

Pretzel-crusted chicken

Delicious!! The honey mustard gives it a yummy taste. As a side, I made brown rice with veggies, and green beans.

I would give this an 8.5 out of 10!

Challenges this week!

2010-05-03T06:36:00.002-04:00

I really enjoyed my little mini challenge last week. Even if we were only two! LOL It gets me thinking more about what I am making and is better for the budget because we eat in! The challenge was cut short because we had outside obligations for two nights.

This week's challenge once again will pick up off last weeks !! One Taste of Home recipe each day (Monday to Wednesday) as Thursday we will be away.

An added challenge though for the week is to create a Mother's Day card! Whether it be copied from someone or your original. Between now and Thursday, we need to create a Mother's Day card. I will post mine up as I know my mom doesn't have computer access right now!

Stay tuned...
and remember it's ok to participate only once, twice or all the time!!

Buzz and Woody !!

2010-04-29T06:48:00.003-04:00

Wow. These are not easy to make!
Natalie ordered a Toy Story mold the other day for Myran's birthday. Unfortunately, it was not well defined inside the mold cavity, so it made it hard to make.

Well this morning, being up at 5, I decided to venture out and try them!

Here are Buzz and Woody from Toy Story. The hardest part was figuring out where to paint! and also creating certain colors.

I can't wait to see if Myran will like them!

a simple Mother's Day card

2010-04-28T18:46:00.002-04:00

Here is the card we will be mailing to Bill's mom. It doesn't show really well but it is on green card stock. It turned out really nice!

Taste of Home Challenge - Day 3

2010-04-28T17:16:00.003-04:00

MMMMMMMMMmmm.... Today's recipe is French's Crunchy Onion Chicken. VERY simple.

All it is is :
2 cups French's original french fried onions
2 tbsp flour
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 egg, beaten

Put the onions in a big resealable bag with the flour. Lightly crush the onions.
Dip chicken in the egg, coat with onions.
Bake on baking sheet for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

I have to give this a 9.5/10!

We had this with a side of steamed yellow beans and mashed potatoes. Yum yum!!

What did you make today??

Taste of Home challenge - Day 2

2010-04-27T17:59:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I marinated my pork tenderloin so today all I had to do was cook it! I put it in the oven at 375 for half an hour.

The recipe is: Cilantro Pork Tenderloin from the new Taste of Home Cooking School magazine.

Here it is with broccoli stems (Maelie eats the tree parts) and caesar salad again. (Maelie requested caesar salad. We use the Renees wellness dressing made with yogurt)

The pork was very juicy and it didn't taste too strong. It smelled really strong so I expected it to taste too strong as well. But it was just perfect! MMMMMmmmm.

I would rate it 8/10

Taste of Home challenge - day 1

2010-04-26T17:10:00.003-04:00

I had big plans for today! I read my recipe ahead of time, asked Bill to pick up the ingredients, and then when I got home... I read the recipe more attentively. I had to marinate the pork all night long! I prepped that recipe tomorrow (not disclosing it yet)

For today, I turned myself around and went with what I had.

Here it is in all its glory, the Asparagus Frittata ! It comes from my Taste of Home Busy Family Cookbook. I used 7 real eggs, excluding a few egg yolks. I didn't have any parsley. Everything else pretty much was as is.

I must say that for an egg-based recipe, it is very tasty! I often find egg recipes bland. I would give it an 8.5 out of 10.

What did you make today?

Taste of Home week

2010-04-26T06:14:00.003-04:00

This week I decided that it will be a Taste of Home week in my home.

My goal will be to make something out of of one of my Taste of Home magazines every day this week!!

(picture borrowed from Taste of Home website)

Anyone with me on this one? If so, put your blog link in the comments every day and I will do a recap post at the end of the week.

Come on my 2 readers! You can do it! LOL
(thank goodness for friends)

Just yesterday for supper, I made one of my absolute SIIMPLE favorites. I just didn't take a picture because I didn't know I was going to have a Taste of home week! You can see a picture and the recipe HERE. Mine was a bit more generously sprinkled with Kraft grated parmesan cheese than comes in a bag. (I don't like the powdered one)

So grab your Taste of Home magazine, or go to their website and choose a recipe each day! Post it on your blog and comment or send me a picture.

I still haven't decided on my recipe for today! I better do that soon!

Sneak peak of something cute!!

2010-04-26T06:00:00.003-04:00

Now that we are basically out of holidays for a while, I think it would be time to work on some cutesy projects!

Here is the beginning of a project :

It all was inspired when I saw THIS on Creations by Patti.

Hers is Christmas themed, however I figured that it could easily be modified for other occasions! I only have some orange spiral binding so I needed to match up my paper with that. Now I just need to decide what I will be using it for... a Mother's day gift ? A favorite recipe book? Not sure yet!!

My goal is to add pockets to each apron and to embellish each page.

(yes... spring cleaning... my apologies once again for pushing you aside right now!)

for the teenager in your life at Easter

2010-04-07T06:06:00.002-04:00

I love the idea I had as an Easter gift for a teenage boy who is into skulls!

I made my Halloween 3-D skull and added bunny ears!!

I never saw THOSE on any Walmart shelves this season!!

Unbelievable!!

2010-04-03T05:33:00.003-04:00

Look at the Easter flower I received!!!

My friend Natalie worked on this project top secretly for days!! She surprised me with it yesterday. Honestly, I was speechless! It looks SOOOO real!

It is made with the Stampin' Up flower punch & a LOT of patience and glue!! I am seriously AMAZED!

Look at the detail of every flower! The picture does not do it justice. It is simply shocking when you see it!!

I tried making a rose the other day with similar instruction and i ended up with glue up to my elbows... and ONE tiny rose. hahaha I cant' imagine making at least 30!

Thanks so much Natalie!!

Look at this!!

2010-03-31T06:44:00.002-04:00

Look at this adorable creation!!
It is CASE'd from someones blog (I forget which one)

an order of eggs

2010-03-31T06:42:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine asked me to make two Easter eggs for her kids... They turned out pretty cute!! The eggs are filled with small chocolates as well.

Pics don't do them justice! but i did what i could....

a little fisherman gift

2010-03-31T06:41:00.002-04:00

Here is a little chocolate fisherman I made for a 12 year old who loves fishing!!

The fish were all tied together inside.... pretty cute!!

New Easter friends

2010-03-20T15:06:00.002-04:00

Here are some of my new Easter friends this year:

a little baby rabbit... I added a purple bow just to double the cuteness!

A cute bee... I also showed the profile shot because you can see its little bee-hind.

Doesn't this little monkey look cheeky?

Easter's coming!

2010-03-09T17:35:00.002-05:00

I saw this Easter card on someone's blog and just HAD to CASE it!! It has so many layers that it almost falls forward!!

I've been working on these little milk cartons because they are SOOOOO cute and SOOOO Easterish! I put a little acetate window so we could see the candy.

Here are a few that already have the candy in it. They look so cute with the little flower pins, and the rabbit pin!

surprise birthday party

2010-02-27T20:11:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine is having a surprise birthday party for her husband's 40th birthday. She wanted to hand make her invitations so we helped her out a bit!! We made 25 of these cute little easel cards!

I cut off the location just in case anyone wanted to go and crash the party!

Maelie's Invitations!!

2010-02-27T18:35:00.004-05:00

After countless hours of working on these invitations, we were FINALLY done tonight!! (Actually we DID count... 20 hours X 2 people = 40 hours!!!)

I am SO glad, relieved, impressed, you name it!! I got the inspiration for these cards on Karen Burniston's website. She is actually the creator of this ball pop up die. I like the way she puts (easy) beside the title!! These cards on not all THAT easy!

When you open up the card, the ball pops up and the little bowling pins hope all over the place!

I don't think I want to give these invitations away!!

Maelie's birthday is in April... no one can ever say I am not preparing ahead of time!!

Gift for a friend!

2010-02-22T18:26:00.002-05:00

I found this idea online but I don;t remember where! I copied the idea to have the little drawers at the bottom but i created the card. I think it turned out AWESOME!

Happy Spring SOON!!

A treat fit for a crafter!!

2010-01-24T07:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I received and AMAZING, AMAZING gift from Natalie!! I do realize most people would prefer receiving this full of edible treats... but to me these ARE treats!! Every little cups is filled with a different craft item!! IMAGINE all the stuff I could do with these! well... that's IF i would consider using them. It's just too nice to use up. (Natalie: note that I used the word IMAGINE here just. for. you. !) hahaha

I love the fact that all the items are in little Valentines mini paper cups! That is absolutely so cute!! Thank you SO much Natalie!!

(I apologize for the excessive use of exclamation marks! but it's too amazing!)

Easel card

2010-01-21T07:26:00.002-05:00

Easel card, where have you been all my life???

I was afraid of trying this easel card for some reason. and now that i tried it, I am in LOVE! it is SO easy to make and it turned out BEAUTIFUL!!!

Valentine milk cartons!

2010-01-21T07:19:00.004-05:00

Here is the cute little milk carton holder that i made with a tutorial from Inking Idaho.

I apologize for the dark pictures! they make the project look not so nice! It's really cuter in person. I should try and take pics at reasonable hours when it is still light! Then my pics would turn out better.

a little Valentine treat

2010-01-17T18:15:00.002-05:00

Here is the cutest little idea in the world! Natalie found the idea online, I forget where. It was a Halloween one so I just modified it for Valentine's Day!!

Here is the little calendar case, closed.

This is what it looks like when you start opening it up...

and here is the cute licorice inside!

For Halloween, this can be made with black licorice! I LOVE this project!!

Valentine's is on it's way!

2010-01-17T15:19:00.003-05:00

Natalie and I have our Valentine workshop coming soon... we are aiming for February 6th early in the day. For family reasons, we will only be having one workshop this time around.

Here are some sneak peaks of what will be happening at the workshops & for the Valentine season!

These are part of the many Valentine crafts we worked on for our workshops!

It was so awesome to plan them all... so it will be awesome to share it with everyone as well!

Sneak peak!

2010-01-10T12:32:00.002-05:00

January and February are going to be busy! Natalie and I are planning workshops.

We are slowly coming up with pretty fun ideas! Here are some little sneak peaks of stuff we are working on....

We found amazing ideas online... and are developing some new ones! It's pretty exciting! Stay tuned for more pics coming up soon!!

The start of a new season!

2010-01-03T20:08:00.002-05:00

Now that Christmas is out of the way... I am starting to focus on Valentine's Day! I love to embrace the change!

Here is a cute little milk carton that I made. It is filled with connamon hearts.

I can't explain why I love this die so much!! It is very versatile! You can make some for every single holiday!

Get ready for many more Valentine's projects coming up in the next month....

Glitter mess culprit & messy workstation

2009-12-05T05:41:00.003-05:00

These cards are the culprits of the glitter festival in my whole house! I have never seen so much glitter in my life!

On a good note, they turned out pretty cute! And the love of glitter will be shared with those receiving these cards :) Here is another simple one that did not require glitter. My apologies, it's hard to get good lighting at 5 am.

Would you like a teeny tiny glimpse of what I mean when I say my kitchen is a MESS? Here is a TINY part of my workspace. Pic taken this morning. No staging.

I am at the end of my cards! So this will all be cleaned up shortly :)

Love or obsession? criss-cross card

2009-12-03T07:08:00.003-05:00

I am not sure if I am in love or simply obsessed with these little criss-cross cards!! I just want to make them again and again!! The bad side of it? With the little embellishment band around it, they won't fit in the envelopes that I addressed already! I received Maelie's school pics this week so I glued them onto the note inside. What I love is that each and everyone is different.

Here are just a few of them:

Today will be the official Christmas card mailing day in our house.

ooooey gooooey!

2009-11-23T19:33:00.003-05:00

Maelie and I worked on a baking project today!

Ooooey gooey cinnamon buns! Extra unhealthy version! hahaha Hence why these will be brought to work and not left on our counter for little chidren and husbands to eat!!

I don't know what it is with the months of November and December... i just want to stay home and bake all the time and then give my baking away! It's the festive air I think!

Sunday morning baking

2009-11-22T08:14:00.003-05:00

Maelie and I started off the day baking some candy cane cookies! She was up by 6:00, so I immediately took out the mixer! By 6:30 we were rolling the dough.

Maelie had a harder time making the candy canes, so I had her make candy shaped cookies instead.

She added he little touch to some of them... a heart for Mommy with an M, a heart for Daddy with a D, and one for herself with an M.

This is how many we were able to make

They passed the taste test!!

Sneak peak - Christmas card workshop

2009-11-20T19:09:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow Natalie and I are hosting our Christmas card workshop at my house. Other than frantically trying to clean up the place, I managed to make a few treats. Here is a sneak peak....

Do you think a group of ladies will notice the dust and dirt if there are chocolate covered cherries around?? *cross my fingers* i hope they don't...

.

2 quick cards

2009-11-19T19:34:00.001-05:00

Advent calendar

2009-11-14T21:00:00.003-05:00

This is something I never thought I would be able to accomplish!! but thanks to Natalie, here it is:

Maelie is ECSTATIC and she cannot wait 'til December 1st!!! When I presented it to her, she was speechless with her mouth open for a bit! and that was followed by a huge hug and a "thank you mommy!"

A snowman one!

2009-11-13T06:47:00.003-05:00

I thought it was time I make a snowman card.

I have a workshop at lunchtime today with colleagues from work. Since there will be about 8 people, I had to make sure it was simple enough. Not because they can't handle it, but mainly because we are doing this on our lunch hour. When there is only 1 of each kind of tool, it takes a while to go around!! So hopefully they will like it! The picture actually doesn't do it justice. In person it just glitters ! I love it!

New cards

2009-11-09T18:45:00.002-05:00

Here are 4 more cards that I worked on this week. These are CASED from the Splitcoast gallery.

Christmas tags

2009-11-08T16:03:00.002-05:00

I guess I was in a tag mood today!

My favorite, for now, is the one with 2 pink snowflakes.

Which is YOUR favorite?

I cannot contain myself!

2009-11-07T19:41:00.002-05:00

These little baskets are ADORABLE!! and EASY!! I am so excited I can't contain myself!!

I found the tutorial on Chicnscratch.

Imagine the gazillion goodies that can go in that little basket!

5 am crafting

2009-11-06T06:20:00.002-05:00

Since I was up early again this morning, I sat at my craft table (which is my kitchen table) and worked on another card (CASE'd from someone on Splitcoast as usual)

Maelie was up by 5:30 and joined me! She decided to emboss and emboss and emboss some more Christmas pictures! :) Since I let her use the heat tool, now this is all she wants to do!

Here is the card I completed with a little treat cup and holly sprinkles inside! I figured I would put a french greeting on a few cards.

Christmas cards

2009-11-06T04:27:00.005-05:00

I've started working on easy Christmas cards this past week. My friend Natalie and I will be holding various workshops in the weeks coming up and on of them will be Christmas cards.

Below are samples that I have been working on. If you are in the area, and wish to join, let me know.

Please note: the pictures really do not do them justice :)

Halloween craft get together

2009-10-26T04:22:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, as mentioned in the previous post, Natalie and I hosted a Halloween crafts workshop. We had 3 wonderful guests join us for this event! Can you believe that my hands were so busy the WHOLE time that I didn't even get one picture while everyone was there?

I did take a few pics of the snacks before everyone arrived!

Those mini caramel apples were pretty popular!

We crafted for just over 3 hours... I would have kept on going for much more! We had planned 6 crafts, but ended up only making 4 due to running out of time! :)

Natalie and I are hoping to host a Christmas workshop as well. From what we understand, there is a high demand for fun stuff like this!! If anyone is interested in joining us for our Christmas events, please let me know! They are free events when you bring your materials.

A surprise for me!

2009-10-26T02:54:00.004-04:00

Yesterday my friend Natalie and I hosted a Halloween craft workshop. She brought me the most awesome card & box ever! I absolutely LOVE them! So much work and thoughtfulness was put into these gifts. I am truly a sucker for paper crafting!

Here is the boo-tiful card:

Here is the box:

and the inside of the box:

Thank you Natalie!!