Thursday, June 26, 2014

BFF Open House Link Party #164

The Answer Is Chocolate

Happy Friday Eve everyone. Can you believe it's the last weekend in June already? Even scarier, as of yesterday it's six months until Christmas! You know before we blink we'll be seeing Fall and Halloween supplies in the stores if they're not there already. 

But, it's still very much Summer and here are some ideas from last week's party to celebrate this fun season. 


How cute is this SUMMER painted block set from Home.Made.Interest complete with flip flops for the "U"? Think of all the color combinations. 


Complete a fun Summer outfit with this ombre striped clay pendant from The Crafty Scientist. Make one, give one. 



Summer is prime garage sale and flea market shopping season. While you're out and about, look for the components to make this fun suitcase table bar. I have seen suitcase end tables for around $1,200 which is way far away from the price Kim from Made In A Day paid for her table top. 

This week's chocolate feature: Chocolate Banana Muffins from The Pin Junkie. Great way to have your chocolate with some extra fiber and potassium and use up those inevitable extra ripe bananas. 


Let's see what you've been up to this week! 

   
   


Monday, June 23, 2014

Special Order and Everyday Note Cards

Pink Paislee Card

College boy texted me the other day asking if I would mind making a card for a friend of his. LOL.  Me? Mind making a card? Especially one that's a special order from my son in another state? HA.  His friend’s academic adviser had undergone some major surgery so I wanted to make it extra special.

I used a sheet of paper  from Pink Paislee and a coordinating torn scrap as the background, and added torn corners from an embossed scrap I had from a previous project. The paper is heavily patterned so I decided to accent what was already there with Stickles Liquid Pearls.

The wood spiral flower and grey paper roses were from some bargain finds at Michaels. To finish, I layered alphabet sticker letters to make the word “HI” onto punched squares of scrap cardstock and added a strip of washi tape.

Since I was mailing this to CB, I decided I’d send him some notecards that he could use as thank yous or whatever. I’ve always been a stickler about thank you cards, and despite some resistance along the way, now that he’s an adult he actually appreciates why.

Basic Grey Periphery

I used this paper pad from Basic Grey ( busting my paper hoarding stash) and these oversized We R Memory Keepers eyelets as my focals.

Enjoy Notecard

Each card has a flattened bottlecap with a sentiment sticker in the middle. “Enjoy”, “Live”, “Smile” , “Laugh”.

Smile Notecard


Live Notecard

Laugh Notecard

I finished each card off with a strip of printed washi tape. He's doing a Summer research project at school and has some opportunities to do some extra things via his Professors so these will come in handy.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

BFF Open House Link Party #163

The Answer Is Chocolate

Friday eve again already! Hope everyone had fun celebrating the dads in your lives and has had a good week. 

Lots of great ideas at last week's party and maybe because I have some bare walls, but several wall art projects caught my eye. 


I love the simplicity and boldness of this piece ( pieces?) by Julia from Always Ruetten . Inexpensive, easy, high impact. What's not to love?


Here's another on trend idea. Pallet art and a big ampersand. Not to mention the quote is timeless. See the details at This Silly Girl's Life.


Mirror mirror on the wall, from the Dollar Store came them all ( groan lol). But seriously, see what you can do with a few mirrors from the Dollar Store over at Mondo Mom

This week's chocolate feature brings the outside in. See a new twist on everyone's favorite campfire dessert with these S'mores inspired brownies from Life With the Crust Off


Now, let's see what you've been up to this week! 

   
   




Monday, June 16, 2014

My Paris Bathroom: Bathroom Makeover Using What You Already Have

Paris Bath Collage
Happy Monday ( OK fake it til you make it right? ) .  Thought I'd share a post I did for the blog Live Creatively Inspired where I post once a month. If you've never visited, you really should. It's a wonderful place with posts from some amazing bloggers , full of inspiring ideas.  I am so honored they let me post there!  

This is a bathroom makeover idea using things from around the house brought together in a new space. 

I didn't set out to have a Paris themed bathroom but I realized one day just how many Paris themed things I had, many of which I created. I went "shopping" in my house and brought several of them together in one of the bathrooms. 

Coffee Filter Wreath

This coffee filter wreath previously hung outside our laundry room. I decided it would look better on the door to the bathroom. This was a fun and easy project to create and you can find the details on my blog here.

Painted Frame and Vinyl Sign

This sign was originally created to hang in our master bath, ended up in the dining room and is now on a wall in the Paris bathroom!  The sign is made from a re-purposed frame, a piece of dropcloth and vinyl images cut on the Silhouette Cameo. Details on this project here.

Paris Themed Bath

The vintage candleabra was a bargain flea market find that I originally thought I'd paint but ended up leaving in its shabby chic state. The Paris plaque is Mod Podge and Scrapbook paper on a piece of wood found at the hardware store.  The chocolate sign was a gift from one of my best friends and what goes better with Paris than chocolate?!  The candle is an altered dollar store find. 

Paris Box

The Paris themed box ( originally intended as a gift for a friend but she ended up with something else) holds miscellaneous things a guest might need. It's a plain wood cigar box from the craft store, painted, Mod Podged and accented with a vinyl Eiffel Tower.  

I loved all of these pieces individually but I love them even more combined together in their new home!  Hope I've given you inspiration to look at some things around your home in a new way without spending a penny! 

Thursday, June 12, 2014

BFF Open House Link Party #162 Father's Day Edition

The Answer Is Chocolate

Friday eve again! And not only Friday eve but Father's Day weekend Friday eve! First, to all the Dads in your lives, Happy Father's Day.  In case you need some last minute inspiration , here are some Father's Day features that might come in handy ( or can always be pinned for when you need a guy idea throughout the year). 


My readers know I love to make cards. These, from the guys at Crafty Lumberjacks are just too perfect for Dad's day! 

If you can't find something at these next two roundup features, I'm not sure there's a gift out there for you!


This one from Crafty Journal (includes printables, things kids can make etc.) or 

this one from Lamberts Lately should have you covered!

For the Dad with a sweet tooth this week's chocolate feature should satisfy: 


Rocky Road doughnuts from Confectionalism !

OK now on to this week's party!

   
   





Monday, June 9, 2014

It's A Bird It's A Plane It's Super Hero Father's Day Cards

Super Dad Cards

I’ve been on a paper diet lately, resisting the temptations of all the paper stacks calling my name. However, I couldn’t resist one stack I saw at Michaels…the Comic Heroes stack from Recollections.

P6072082

SInce College Boy is a self described comic geek, it went without saying that this had to be part of my collection. Then I started thinking about Father’s Day cards and what a perfect match!
Supplies Needed:
  • Comic Heros paper stack
  • Cardstock
  • Computer generated image
  • Washi Tape
  • Rhinestones

Comic Father's Day

For the card focal , I created an image in PicMonkey and then printed on plain white cardstock. I thought the could shaped comic bubble worked with the papers. Trimmed, matted with black and then again with another scrap of cardstock.

Super Hero Dad Closeup

The papers are so detailed that I didn’t need to embellish a lot. I punched stars from another sheet from the stack.

Super Dad Father's Day

I had some washi tape that coordinated with the paper I used for the stars and reminded me of the dots you often see in comics.  I used foam dots to adhere some of the stars and others I trimmed and laid flat with tape.

To finish, I added a few tiny red self adhesive rhinestones around the cloud bubble.

Up up and away!

Thursday, June 5, 2014

BFF Open House Link Party #161

The Answer Is Chocolate

Happy Friday eve everyone! This week's been slightly more sane and hope it was a good one for all of you too. Can you believe Father's Day is almost here? Time to celebrate the dads in our lives and here are some great projects that were linked up last week to give you some inspiration. 


Anchors and nautical themes are trending right now and Virginia from FynesDesigns has a great project that can either be framed or used for a card. 



The CSI Project shared another easy idea for Father's Day using puzzle and scrabble pieces. 


Fonda, over at Southern Scraps has a roundup of 7 DIY Father's Day ideas that are better than a tie. Included are these comic coaster which I think I may have to make for College Boy instead of Mr. Chocolate!

This week's chocolate feature will have you licking the screen. 


Wouldn't this Nutella Parfait from This Silly Girl's Life be the perfect dessert for a Father's Day Dinner?! YUM. 

Now let's see what you've been up to this week! 

   
   



Monday, June 2, 2014

Yes I Made A Card for $.50

Hello Card

We all have those things that soothe us right? For some it’s a new pair of shoes. For others it’s a spa treatment or digging in the dirt. For me ( in addition to chocolate of course) it’s a stroll through Michaels. I just like wandering the aisles ( sometimes talking to myself…this is completely normal so don’t call anyone!). It doesn’t even take spending a bundle to make me giddy. Case in point, a recent trip where I was elated to stumble upon a treasure trove of $.50 finds. Yes you read that right FIFTY CENT finds!

Michaels Finds

Well you didn’t think I was going to buy just one thing for $.50 did you? Silly.. They had this whole collection of coordinating elements and I may or may not have bought 1 or 2 of each.

I used one of the embellishment packs to make this just because card for a friend.

DCWV Lemon Stack

The colors went perfectly with a DCWV stack ( Lemon Flower) I had in my stash. I did have to will myself not to buy any more paper on this recent trip. SO hard.

Hello Card Elements

I chose a coordinating piece of paper from the stack and grabbed a couple of scraps from previous projects including a white embossed panel. Then I just sat and played and used up all the elements on the embellishment card. Should have thought ahead to include the card the embellishments were on since it matched but yes, saved it for another project TBD.

Hello Card

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