BFF Open House Link Party #41 Wrap Up and Features

Hi all. A little late in getting the features from Friday’s party posted but we had a great long weekend visit to our son’s college.

You all had a great party in my absence! I didn’t have a chance to visit everyone but here are a few things that caught my eye.

With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, be sure to check out this perfect printable from Kristi at I Should Be Mopping The Floor:

She framed it and filled in the blank with dry erase marker on top of the glass so you can write down what's most special to you. I feel lucky she linked this up!

I keep seeing lots of British themed items in stores like Restoration Hardware and small boutiques. Jennifer Lynn from My Vintage Bliss knocked it out of the park with this Union Jack canvas:

Trust me, you will not beat the price!

If you’re not chocolated out from Valentine’s Day , Tiffany from My Crowded Kitchen shared these mouth watering Chocolate Ganache Cookie Bites.

I love Marimekko prints. If you’re not familiar with Marimekko, they are a Finnish design company that does amazing graphics on fabric, paper etc. You get so excited about the patterns and prints and then have a bit of sticker shock when you add up the yardage cost.  Lynette at Casa de Luna Creations shared her Marimekko design inspired curtains, fabric courtesy of Jo Ann!

Lynette’s curtains go perfectly with Katie’s pillow from Creatively Living:

Katie used yarn to spell out Love , and used the same yarn to outline the front of the pillow and make the fringe. Best thing is , she already had the pillow!

Thanks again everyone and hope to see you again on Friday!

BFF Open House Link Party #41

TGI almost F. Hope everyone had a wonderful and of course chocolate covered Valentine's Day! I'll be back with a new BFF next week so this week it's just the Party part. Now that Valentine's Day has come and gone, what's everyone working on? It's Spring already next month!

Let's see what great ideas everyone has for President's Day, St. Patrick's, Spring Cleaning ( yes...I said that!) and dare I say, even Easter? I blinked and JoAnn's went from Valentine's to Easter like that. It's not like much dust gathers between my visits there. Just sayin'.

 Anything goes as long as it was made by you. Papercrafts, cards, jewelry, scrapbooking, DIY, upcycle, recycle, road kill rescue, recipes, etc.!

I have a super busy weekend so if I don't get around to visit your links this week, please understand. I do try!

Party On!

Floral and Copper Birthday Card

I love it when a plan I didn’t have comes together. Like when two different companies whose products I love each come out with products that work together. Which of course means I have to get them because, well, they can’t be separated right?

I made this birthday card using a new stack from DCWV called Serenity, a Grand Adhesions pack from K and Co called Engraved Garden, and die cuts from their Edamame collection.

The Serenity stack has coordinating florals and other patterns and some of the papers have foil accents. I used a large and small version of the same foral pattern for the background and center of the card.

The Grand Adhesions dimensional word stickers are all in one piece so they’re super simple to use. Peel. Stick. Done. The letters look a little brassy in this pic but they are a gorgeous metallic copper.

I layered the butterfly die cut using dimensional foam dots and embellished with self adhesive pearls. This was one of those cards where less was more so I actually kept embellishments to a minimum which is a challenge for me!

Happy Chocolate Lovers Day! Valentine's Mega Chocolate Overload Post

The best day of the year is here! Sure it's a day filled with flowers:

A nice early surprise from Mr. Chocolate who also found the perfect balloon for me:

Awwwwww. Love you sweetie! 

In ADDITION to those lovely treats, it’s THE chocolate holiday of the year! And if you think I’m alone in my passion for chocolate, think again!

Food Network magazine has devoted a whole issue to chocolate ( I've told myself they did it just for me) and Better Homes and Gardens has a month of chocolate ideas on their Facebook page.

If you’re looking for any last minute ideas for a decadent Valentine’s Day dessert here you go:

Brownie Rubble from Food Network

There's always a reason to have truffles. Food Network also has a great recipe to make them at home:

Chocolate Truffles

These chocolate covered strawberries are a Valentine's classic but with a little twist, chili !

Chili Chocolate Covered Strawberries

And whose heart wouldn't melt with one bite of this molten chocolate cake?

Molten Chocolate Cake

These and so much more over at Food Network.

Of course there are some talented bloggers out there who have some tantalizing recipes to share. Visit Crazy For Crust for the recipe for this 100,000 Bar Fudge:

For another decadent fudge recipe, check out this Red Hot Oreo Fudge from Jocelyn at Inside BruCrew Life:

I featured both of these in prior link party highlights, but they are both so incredible looking, I don't think anyone will mind seeing them again. From Tonia at The Gunny Sack, these brownie peanut butter cupcakes:

Keeping with the chocolate peanut butter combo, these gorgeous cookies from Jenn at Rook No. 17:

Valentine's Day and Whoopie Pies. Nuff said:

Nutella Whoopie Pies from My San Francisco Kitchen

Chocolate overload? Is there such a thing?

Happy Valentine's Day 

BFF Open House Link Party#40 Wrap Up and Features

Thanks for another fun party! Not overlooking Valentine’s Day ( check back tomorrow!) but since it’s upon us and crafters are always ahead of the calendar, I’m highlighting some ideas that were shared that are perfect to get a jumpstart on Spring.

Welcome your guests with a very elegant monogrammed mat from Charm Bracelet Diva that looks like it came straight from Ballard Designs but for a fraction of the price:

I’ve seen these mini dress forms in stores for a pretty penny but Janet of All Trades shows us how to make them just as chic for a lot less:

You could even make one of these great sisal placemats from Donna at Loopy Loop Creations to go underneath your dress form:

And finally, this would be perfect for Valentine’s Day or any time of year. Check out this neutral and timeless necklace from Ellen at Creative Passage:

Hope to see you all again on Friday. Make it a creative week!

School Spirit Necklace and Bracelet

I mentioned in my post about my field trip to Shipwreck Beads that I picked up some things for a specific project. We’re going to a parent’s event at our son’s college and I wanted to show my school spirit so I made sure to pick up some beads in his school colors. Most people buy a tee shirt. I make jewelry. I know…

When I make jewelry, I have a general idea in mind but my “process” is to gather up the stuff I think I might use and take it from there:

I had some gunmetal Bead Landing chain in my stash that I knew I wanted to use, two shades of blue fire polished crystal beads and these great crystal studded beads I picked up on my trip..

I made four sets of these with the light and darker blue crystals and the crystal studded beads, then attached them to some of the chain with silver jump rings.

I had two different styles of Bead Landing chain (Michaels) so I used both and doubled them up to give some more depth to the necklace.

The center piece is actually half of a clasp but I’ll use the other half for something else.

Although this looks like a necklace on my Premiere Prop Co mannequin form, it’s actually the bracelet I made to go along with my necklace. You can find a variety of these jewelry props at Michaels.

For the bracelet, I used more Bead Landing chain, crystals, bead caps and white off set beads.

Sharing At: 

Disclosure: Premiere Prop Co provided me with props however, the opinions expressed are mine

BFF Open House Link Party #40 and BFF I Should Be Mopping The Floor !

In some ways, like the time between parties, the weeks just go faster and faster. In others ( ie work ..smile) they draaag on.

Let’s focus on the positive and meet this week’s BFF Kristi from ( and I both love and need to do her blog name) “I Should Be Mopping The Floor”. The rest of it goes : “But instead I’m pulling out the glue gun”.  Who can’t relate to that?

Kristi is a former event planner, part time graphic designer, full time wife, and mom to two boys. And she’s quite the creative genius. You may recall her re-purposed Keurig K Cup turned Valentine’s box I featured from last week’s party. Here are a few of her other awesome creations.

Love this painted and distressed coffee table that started out as a Cragslist find.

Got Mod Podge and aluminum foil? Cover a lamp base!

And you’ve got to see the incredible Toy Story themed birthday party she did:

Or the super Mario Cart racetrack cake she made for her older son’s birthday party. I want Kristi to throw me a party!

She’s got so much more including some great free printables, recipes, and hosts a weekly link party on Mondays called Mop It Up Mondays. I hope you’ll go visit!

Now, what’s everyone been up to this week? Please link to your specific post and no ads or shops please. Party On!