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!

BFF Open House Link Party #27 and BFF Days of Chalk and Chocolate

Welcome to the first BFF Open House link party of NOVEMBER! Less than three weeks til Thanksgiving and then….OK I won’t say it. Hopefully everyone’s recovered from Halloween.

This week, I’d like to introduce you to Jenny from the blog Days of Chalk and Chocolate, another blogger whose crafty creativity is fueled by her love of chocolate. She’s also a wife, mom, and part time elementary school teacher. And if that doesn’t keep her busy enough, she’s recently been through a move! Here are just a few peeks into Jenny’s wonderful creations:

Love the chocolatey brown of this table runner which is made from napkins!

Or this gorgeous ruffled wreath:

And even though one of her little ones thinks she makes too many pillows, I think she should keep making them if they’re as fantastic as this one:

But where’s the chocolate you ask? Right here I answer. How perfect are these for the holiday season? Hot cocoa cupcakes!!

Aren’t they wonderful? I hope you’ll go visit Jenny and check out some of her other creations!

Now, let’s see what everyone’s been up to this week! Party On!

BFF Open House Link Party#24 and This Week’s BFF: Art Is Beauty!

Hi all and thanks for joining me for another BFF Open House! Last week’s party had the MOST links ever. A big thanks to everyone who links up regularly and to those who came for the first time. And a big thanks to all of those who have recently become followers of The Answer Is Chocolate!

This week I’d like to introduce you to the wonderfully talented Karin from the blog Art Is Beauty. One trip to Karin’s and you’ll see her blog is aptly named. Let’s take a peek:
This gorgeous coffee table started out as a very ordinary Goodwill find:

I love the colors Karin chose and the stencil design down the middle. Some of Karin’s other transformations incorporate our shared appreciation of lovelies found over at  The Graphics Fairy. Like these pillow cases ( another Goodwill find) that are simply mahvelous!

And tis the season to be Spooky:

And you know I kinda have a thing for bottles so these definitely caught my eye!

You’ll find lots of tempting transformations over at Art Is Beauty, so I hope you will go and visit Karin soon.

Now on with the party. Simple. If you made it, link it! Please link to your specific blog post and not your main page and go visit a few links and make some new BFFs!

BFF Open House Link Party #88 Wrap Up and Features

Wow! What a great turnout for last week's party. Thanks everyone for sharing your creations here. Let's get right to some of the wonderful ideas that caught my eye!

I'm hooked on chalkboard printables and this Winnie The Pooh inspired one from Michele at The Scrap Shoppe is just too too cute. Perfect for Valentine's Day or all year. 

I love card making and this card by Linda at Paper Seedling is a stunner. 

Rox, from Four Eleven Rox, has inspired me to pick my doodle pad back up with her amazing Zentangle inspired heart. 

And this week's chocolate feature comes from Karyn at Pint Sized Baker. These are almost too pretty to eat. Almost! That wouldn't stop me from devouring these beautiful chocolate rose frosted shortbread cookies. You can read about the extra special meaning behind them at Karyn's blog. 

Thanks again to everyone who makes the BFF Open House Link Party a part of their week. It means a lot to me! Have a great week and make it a creative one! 

BFF Open House Link Party

Happy Friday Eve all and welcome back to the BFF Open House. Hope you all had a wonderful week and March isn't coming in as too much of a lion for everyone. Let's start with some features from last week's party. 

I am all about the DIY wall art and love this idea from Decorating Cents. Andrea added this to her son's "big boy" room but I can think of several even bigger boys for whom this would be a great idea in an office / man cave etc. 

Artsy Va Va shared a great image transfer technique . I love how this shabby chic wood block turned out don't you? 

Brenda from Much More Creative shared these great reclaimed wood tags for St. Patrick's Day. You won't believe how they started. 

This week's chocolate feature is from Diana at Closet Crafter Ohio. Inspired by chocolates her husband brought her from Belgium, she came up with a copycat recipe that I think looks AMAZING!

Now on to this week's party !

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

BFF Open House #61

Welcome to this week’s BFF Open House here at The Answer Is Chocolate. Hope you all had a safe and happy July Fourth.

I’m going to have a crazy couple of weekends coming up so the party will go on but just letting you know in case I don’t get around to visit and do features like I usually try to. All the more reason for you all to go visit each other right?

See that button on my side bar? I hope you’ll check out Workshop Wednesdays, a fun Christmas in July series I’m participating in with several other bloggers. It’s never too early to get a start on the holidays.

OK I think that’s it for the announcements! Let’s see what everyone’s been up to this week:

Party On!

BFF Open House Link Party #86 Wrap Up and Features

Happy Monday ( ok I’m pretending those words go together) and thanks to everyone who linked up to the first BFF Open House link party of 2013.

I’m beyond excited that on Friday, I hit 1,000 GFC followers!! Thank you all for making TAIC a part of your blog world. Working on ways to celebrate.

Here’s an up close look at some of the great ideas shared at last week’s party.

Aimee from Twigg Studios provided the answer to a question I asked myself on a recent walk through Pottery Barn. The question was “I wonder how soon some intrepid blogger will knock these off” because they’re ridiculously over priced ( IMO) . Go see how she achieved the look for a fraction of the cost.


I love printables and am really in love with chalkboard printables right now. Fotini from Glamorous Mommy has some really cute ones she’s sharing. I love the message:

It’s beginning to look a lot like Valentine’s Day already. Keri from Shaken Together has a cute wreath idea that has so many holiday possibilities:

And Michele from The Scrap Shoppe has another fun Valentine’s idea to try. I have yet to do anything with photo props but this may just be the occasion.

If you started a New Year’s diet, look away before checking out this next post. It looks soooooooooooooo yummy and is this week’s chocolate feature. From Tiffany at My Crowded Kitchen comes Dark Chocolate Walnut and Sea Salt Fudge. Oh my!

Again, thanks to everyone who linked up and hope to see you all back again this week. Make it a creative one!

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?

BFF Open House Link Party #186

Welcome to the post turkey naptime edition of the BFF Open House. Hoping everyone had a fabulous feast, and those of you braving the crowds tomorrow are well rested and fortified. 

We are in full on December holiday mode now. Here are some features from last week's party. 

I want this chair that Artsy Va Va made over. I wanted the chair it was before she made it into a Christmas chair. I love everything from the ornaments to the shabby chic goodness of the legs and arms! 

Loving this woodland wreath from Made In A Day using embroidery hoops. 

For a new twist on snowglobes made from jars, put a car in it. Visit 24 Cottonwood Lane for the details. 

Gather miscellaneous votives or jars and tie them together with gold leaf to make a festive display perfect for Christmas or Hanukkah. See the guys at Crafty Lumberjacks to learn how. 

This week's chocolate feature is courtesy of  The Pin Junkie: 

You're welcome !

Now on to this week's party : 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

BFF Open House #24 Wrap Up and Features

Thanks all for making the weekly BFF Open House link party such a fun event. I really really love seeing what everyone’s been up to! I try to visit as many of the links as possible but this weekend got away from me and I hope you'll understand.

Here are a few items from Friday’s party, but as always, everyone is so inspiring!
If you’ve never visited Mich in LA ( then you should) you’ve probably never played her “guess the mystery thing” regular stump the blogger series. She picks an item and transforms it into a piece of jewelry and invites you to guess “the mystery thing”. I just had to feature these necklaces. And you just have to go visit to find out the “mystery thing”

After that you can pop on over to Sarah at Alderberry Hill to see how she made these adorable mummies out of potato chip cans!

From there, take a peek if you dare at Bev’s Gothic Spooky Mantle over at Flamingo Toes. Love this cameo wreath:

And then get some ideas for a fabulous  party from La-Dee-Da Creations who had great fun with some ladies from her church getting together to make Halloween crafts:

Have a wonderful week and see you all again on Friday!

BFF Open House Link Party

Hi all and welcome to another BFF Open House here at The Answer Is Chocolate. Sadness in Casa Chocolate this week as we had to say goodbye to our precious furbaby of 16 years. It's the day every pet parent dreads. She's at peace and not suffering which is all we could possibly want. 

Looking through the links from last week's party helped a lot so thank you to all who linked up. Here are a few features!!

Repurpose and Upcycle is back with an amazing DIY Budget Friendly Beach Cottage Mudroom. 

Satsuma Designs shared the cutest Fairy Camp Party idea, complete with Fairy Houses. This would be as much fun for grownups as for kids and could be easily adapted for a Bridal or Baby Shower or just a girlfriends gathering. 

It was Harry Potter's Birthday this week and the 20th Anniversary of the book that  started it all. Harry has been a huge part of our lives and I can never resist a Harry Potter craft idea. These mugs from Surviving A Teacher's Salary are no exception. 

Finally , between this week and the fact that this pie applies to me, I had to feature this "Menopause" aka Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Pie from  Marilyn's Treats. Yeah you do all the things you're supposed to ... eat right, exercise, mindfulness but let's be real. When you are a woman of a certain age and your hormones are going full tilt crazy, the answer really is chocolate. 

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

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

BFF Open House 2024

 

Happy New Year and welcome to the first party of 2024!  I'll start features with next week's party and just take a moment for a few refreshers, goals etc. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and is getting off to a creative start to 2024! 

BFF Party

• For those who don't know or remember, the BFF started out as "Blog Feature Friday" and still is but also it applies to the more colloquial use because you are my Creative BFFs! 

• The party will continue to go up Thus afternoons (Pacific Time) and run through the following Monday.

• I may not get around to commenting on every post but try to do as many as I can.

• I usually do four features one of which is something chocolate

• Each feature includes a Pin to my BFF Party Features Board on Pinterest and a link back to your specific post. 

2024 Goals

I like goals better than resolutions. May be a distinction w/out a different, just my brain. My goals for 2024 are: 

• Learn Sublimation (since I got a Brother Sublimation Printer for Christmas!) I know I'm behind but can't do have everything all at once, right?
• Put myself out there more. I am an introvert who's never likely going to be on Tik Tok. I realize that limits opportunities to engage with brands, grow my audience. The struggle is real.
• Work on Affiliate and Brand relationships. I have had some stops and starts and haven't bothered for a while but I feel like I'm in a place where I can start again. Some brands I would love to work with. If anyone has contacts...

Cricut

Xtool

Plaid

Michaels

JoAnn

• Remain authentic. I can only "do me" so I will never work with a brand that isn't really me
• Grow 
• Be...present in the moment, not dwell on missed opportunities

What are your goals or resolutions for 2024? 

 Let's make 2024 the most creative ever! Visit each other's links, bring friends, have fun! There is always a warm plate of virtual chocolate chip cookies waiting for you. 

 

 

 

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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!

BFF Open House Link Party #71 and pick.print.party Giveaway Winner

Happy almost Friday party people! I woke up in a panic that I’d forgotten to post a party at all. 

Before we get to the party, we have a winner of the giveaway from pick.print.party.

And the winner is ( as randomly chosen by Rafflecopter) :

Congrats Carol! I’ll let Rebecca from pick.print.party know and she’ll be in touch with the details. Thanks to everyone who entered !

What have you been up to this week?  Party on!