It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Bling. 21st Birthday Card.

I don’t feel old enough to have a friend who has a 21 year old daughter! Darn you reality!

Special occasion called for a special card so I outblinged myself.

I used a black and white damask paper from a  Recollections pack I picked up at Michaels, and a pink and white paper from the same pack.

The focal point of the card is a dimensional sticker from KandCo. It already had rhinestones so of course I added more.

Layered the two papers and went over the border with pink glitter ribbon. For the “21” I used clear stickers on a plain bezel charm and filled in with Dimensional Magic.

Finished by adding crown shape self adhesive rhinestones on the corners.

I’m still not old enough to have a BFF with a 21 year old. Nope!

Sharing At:

BFF Open House Link Party #58 Wrap Up and Features

I’m a day late with the features from Friday’s link party. Was celebrating Expressions Vinyl’s birthday yesterday. Don’t forget, I have a giveaway from them going through this Sunday. Details here.


As always, so many wonderful ideas were linked up to last week’s BFF Open House. Here are just a few!
I’ll start off by making you drool over these cupcakes from Jocelyn at Inside BruCru Life. Starbucks should just hire her to come up with cupcakes to pair with their drinks.



Jocelyn’s got a whole collection of Starbucks inspired confections .

What crafty mom doesn’t have a collection of popsicle sticks hanging around without a clue what to do with them? Bethany at Pitter and Glink has got your covered:

Popsicle sticks!

No one would guess this was a made-over shirt versus one bought new in a trendy boutique. That’s because the ever brilliant Carolyn from Homework did it:

Time to shop in the closet!

Want to add a patriotic pillow to your décor without breaking the bank? Laura from Top This Top That shared this cute pillow made from….. a drop cloth:

If you don’t already have one in your stash you can pick up fabric drop cloths at the Hardware store for about $8 and they provide a LOT of fabric.

Thanks again for making each Friday so much fun. Make it another creative week!

Expressions Vinyl Birthday Giveaway!

Expressions Vinyl is celebrating their birthday this week and I was very excited when they contacted me to play with some of their newest products as part of the celebration. I was even MORE excited when they said that one of my readers would get a chance to receive a similar box of goodies of their own.

I couldn’t wait to see what was inside the box when it arrived and they didn’t disappoint with a ginormous selection of their newest vinyls which included some incredible glitters, metallics, reflectives, frosted and even glow in the dark! Some sheets were 12x12 but most were 12x24.

They are also now carrying acrylic tumblers and sent a couple of those to play with along with a tote bag. Here’s some of the fun I had!

Mr. Chocolate loves cars, transportation, maps etc. I got the idea to make him a Route 66 tumbler he could use for iced drinks this Summer. I used the Expressions Vinyl in Mist Rainbow and Black and downloaded the sign from the Silhouette online store.

Not to be left out, College Boy, who is a huge Superhero and Comic geek ( his preferred term!) got a Batman tumbler , images also downloaded from the SIlhouette online store:

I just had decide what to make for me!

Also included in the box of goodies was a re-usable fabric tote bag. We’ve been hanging out at lots of used bookstores lately and in trying to be greener, I try to bring my own bags when I remember.

I got the idea to make a book themed book bag. Since my Cricut Expression has been feeling neglected, I used it to cut the images and used the Wall Décor and More cartridge:

I’m lazy…didn’t even iron the tote.

For this I used more of the Mist Rainbow vinyl along with two colors of Glitter Ultra Cast: Blue and Mint.

I also cut a key and the word “Knowledge”  ( I’m so corny…get it Books…learning…knowledge is key”.  Go ahead and groan. I did).

And, not content to leave simple enough alone, I freehand cut some layered flowers from drop cloth scraps and embellished them w/ buttons.

This vinyl is so easy to work with and cuts equally nicely on either the Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Expression. Expressions Vinyl is great because they have a settings guide on their website for digital cutters. Even if you don’t have a machine, you can easily draw an image or trace a template on the back and cut by hand.

OK now for the bestest part! 

Expressions is giving one of my readers a chance to win the same box of goodies they sent me ! 2 Tumblers, a tote and a selection of awesome vinyl.  They will have a lot of fun things going on this week so you want to be sure and check out their site and FB page!

The giveaway will run from today, June 18 through June 24 with the winner announced June 25. To enter: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good Luck!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads in your lives!

Mod Podge Goodies Giveaway Winner!

The winner of this ab fab bag of goodies is:

Congrats Diana! I’ve emailed you. Thanks to everyone who entered and thanks again to Plaid and  Lark Crafts for sponsoring.  

Be sure to check back on Monday for a new and fun giveaway! 

BFF Open House Link Party #58

OK folks, who’s going to do something about the whole time flying by thing? Because it, along with my job, are kicking my deriere right now. Sooo I think I need to accept some realities and at least for the Summer, I'm going to take a break from the Blog Feature part of the BFF Open House. We will still have the link party each week so I hope you will continue to come just for that!

I do have some fun things in store over the next few weeks including my Mod Podge Goodies giveaway that ends tomorrow. Enter here if you haven’t already.

So let’s see what everyone’s been up to this week OK?

Tim Holtz Gears Father's Day Cards

I always find “Man Crafting” a challenge. Thankfully there’s Tim Holtz. I love his grungy rugged Alterations dies and folders. When I saw the gear die, I knew it would be perfect for Father’s Day cards.

I bought this huge bucket o JudiKins Mica Gloss a couple of years ago at a stamp show and thought I could use it to achieve Tim’s signature distressed look.

Cut the dies from kraft cardstock and then went over them with Tim’s Distress Ink for Ranger in Black Soot. Sponged over that with Mica Gloss silver and pearl:

The cards are 5x7 and I used papers from  DCWV’s Tradewinds stack and C’oredinations .

I love the Tradewinds stack and it’s got lots of “guy goodness” with keys, maps etc.

I left some of the gears plain and then ran a panel of the C’oredinations paper through a Sizzix Embossing folder and then roughed it up some more with a pedicure block. Yup. A Pedicure Block. Love the cosmetics section at Dollar Tree! Used sponges from there to apply my inks.

Finished with some metal adhesive thingies I’d picked up on a Michaels run.

Yes. metal adhesive thingy is a technical artistic term !

Don't forget, I have a giveaway of Mod Podge goodies going on through Friday. Enter to win here

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BFF Open House Link Party #57: Wrap Up and Features Dads, Grads, Fourth and Fun

Thanks for another fun party. Summer is definitely here and we are in full Dad, Grad, and Fourth of July Season. Here are just a few ideas that caught my eye:

Malia, from Yesterday on Tuesday shared this great Father’s Day Tie Wreath. She has a wonderful tutorial



If you have a grad in your life, Linda from Our Mush Push has a great card layout ( and awwww thanks Linda, glad you found inspiration in my grad cards).

In our house, it would more likely be me eating this but I love this “Manly Munch Mix” from Shaken Together:

If you want to whip up a batch, Keri’s got the labels in addition to the recipe.

I love making and using printables to change up my seasonal décor. Michele at The Scrap Shoppe has a fantastic Fourth of July printable she’s sharing:

Sorry…you have to get your own frame lol.

Finally, Kristina from Remade Simple shared a super cute shirt she did with a bleach pen and stencils.

Thanks as always for choosing to share your creativity here at The Answer Is Chocolate. Make it a creative week!

Father's Day "DAD" Printable

I’ve mentioned how totally hooked on PicMonkey I am. I made a Father’s Day printable and had fun playing with it in PicMonkey.

Sharing here in its original form but also with two PicMonkey effects that I think are perfect for Father’s Day.
The first was made using a Papyrus filter in PicMonkey. Select. Apply.  Done.

This one is the basic printable.

And this one is using a paint filter. Again so easy. Choose, Apply, Done.

Click on the one you like to bring to full size and then right click to Save As. If you use, would love to see!

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BFF Open House Link Party #57 and Mod Podge Goodies Giveaway!

Happy almost Friday everyone and welcome to another BFF Open House. I am not featuring a blog this week but I do have a  very special treat for you!

Remember I got to review and giveaway a copy of Amy Anderson’s fantabulous new book: Mod Podge Rocks, Decoupage Your World?

Well the wonderful folks at Lark Crafts,  Sterling Publishing, and Plaid  are also giving one of my readers the chance to win a Mod Podge goodie bag that is so so so so and did I mention SO cool!

They have this packed so nicely that I didn’t want to undo it to take pictures but I can tell you that this includes:

• A Mod Podge Tee Shirt!
• Sampler pack of Mod Podge finishes
• Glitter Dimensional Magic
• The BRAND NEW Podgeable acrylic shapes
• Podgeable Papers
• A Mod Podge Brayer for smoothing out those bubbles

The giveaway will be open through Friday June 15, and here’s how you can enter to win (US and Canada residents only). Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Now let’s see what you creative people have been up to this week.

Party On!

Recollections Glittery Graduation Cards

I’m starting to feel old when the children of friends I knew when they were pregnant are now graduating from college!

Children of two friends are graduating from the same school Mr. C and I went to, so I had to go all out with school colors for the University of Washington …purple and gold. I found the perfect glitter Recollections papers at Michaels.

I haven’t figured out how to really capture the sparkle of the glitter in photos.

The cards are 5x7 and I cut the papers for the front to 4.75 width and then layered them as shown. Stamped the sentiments with clear embossing ink and used Recollections gold sparkle embossing powder.

Really good that I paid close attention to all of the words on this stamp because one card is for a guy and one is for a girl and wouldn’t want to send the one with “Atta Girl” to the wrong person.

I had some paper bag filler stuff in my party stash so I pulled some out and stick it to the card before I put the stamped focal pieces (layered with purple, black, and gold mirror cardstock). 

Finished with stars punched from the gold glitter paper.

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Mod Podge A Palooza!

I’m so excited to have been selected to participate in a Mod Podge campaign sponsored by Plaid and The Blue Print Social. I’ll be posting my project later this month, but I’m bursting at the seams with excitement being able to share the goodies I get to play with. I was worse than a kid at Christmas or their Birthday waiting for the Fed Ex man to arrive.

I was even singing a “Come on Mr. Fed Ex Man” song that convinced my dog that I’d lost it more than she  usually thinks I have. And NO I will not be performing that for anyone but the dog.  Saturday was THE day!
There are so many fun things in this stash including some new products that should be popping up at Michaels if not there already.

Can you say metallic (Glitter Silver and Gold)  Dimensional Magic? Ohhhhhhh my. And a new Antique Matte finish for vintage-ing stuff up? Yes thank you!  Podgeable papers? Swoon! 

I’m going to be a Podge-maniac! OK I'm going to be more Podge-maniacal than I already am. 

I actually screamed and squealed when I opened the box and my husband and son thought I’d fallen down or something. The dog however, just looked at me like “Not again”.  Hmmm wonder if I can Mod Podge her? Just kidding PETA people! She’s quite used to my outbursts and I love her as much as chocolate and Mod Podge. 

Stay tuned!!