BFF Open House Link Party

Happy Friday Eve and Happy March everyone! Been sidelined w/ a virus this week so haven't done much creatively except enjoy looking at your creations from last week's party. Here are a few ideas to share: 

Let's start with this insanely FABULOUS Pottery Barn inspired knockoff from The Navage Patch. I'll take 2 please?!  A Silhouette was involved but not how you think!

Most of the wall decor in our home is DIY and even if you don't "create" it yourself , these days there are so many options where you can have it made easily and inexpensively. Jenny Louise Marie shared what she did with prints she ordered online.

Speaking of Wall Art, Simply September shared this DIY piece which I love for it's simplicity and sentiment. 

This week's chocolate feature combines several favorites in one. Mr. Chocolate's favorite milkshake is hot-fudge banana so I think he'll like this one too. From The Young Mrs. blog. 

Now on to this week's party! 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Hand Lettered Cards

When I became intrigued by hand lettering, one of the things I hoped I'd be able to do was to incorporate it into my card making. So when I had a couple of cards to make this weekend, that's just what I did. 

I started by doodling the wreath for each card, then added the initial. It just so happened that both recipients have the same initial. 

I chose some coordinating papers , trimmed the focal piece, matted then stamped the sentiments for each with Staz On ink onto white cardstock scraps. Matted those w/ coordinating paper scraps. As I continue to practics and get better at lettering, I'll do the sentiments too but for now, stamps lol. 

To add some dimension, I dotted the berries on the doodled branches with clear dimensional drops ( Nuvo clear). 

Supplies Used: 

• Decorative Scrapbook Papers: Crate Paper pack ( Michaels)
• Lettering Paper: Strathmore Watercolor 
• Staz On Black Ink
• Sentiment Stamps : Michaels (Impulse buy a while ago)
• Drawing Pen: Faber Castell (my personal fave)
• Coloring Pens: Tombow Dual Tip (my personal fave)

Flamingo Toes Show and Tell

Free Printable: "I Craft..."

This week's link party continues here !

Playing around with a fun pack of images for Crafters that's a free download from designbundles.net. 

Click to bring to full resolution. PC users, Right Click to Save As.  I also saved it as a PDF file so if you'd like that, email me at theanswerischocolate@comcast.net

BFF Open House Link Party

Happy Friday eve all! Can you believe it's already the last week of February? The good news is that means Spring is on the way. What Spring things have you been working on? I haven't even started! 

Let's take a look at some of  the great ideas shared at last week's party. 

Kileen from Raven Would shared not only a great Goodwill find but what she did with it to make an awesome Spring centerpiece.  See that cute bunny? She's also got a tutorial on that !

Even though it's technically a few days before Spring officially begins, I always think of St. Patrick's Day as the first Spring holiday. My Busy Beehives has a great printable to add to your decor. 

Despite what Mr. Chocolate thinks, I do not in fact have 99 lipsticks. But, who can't use a cute cosmetics bag? Maggie Lois shared this one that I love! 

Finally if Spring is not quite around the corner in your neck of the woods but you want to bring some in, Heather from Woods of Bell Trees has a gorgeous transitional centerpiece . 

Now, on to this week's party! 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

For the Cost of a Donation: Upcycled Cabinet Door Tray

I dragged Mr. Chocolate to a flea market last month. It was held at an architectural salvage place in Seattle called Second Use. While the flea market didn't yield any treasures, a stroll through the Second Use Warehouse did. 

Of course Mr. Chocolate looked at the two cabinet doors and me like we were nuts. I'm used to it. He now loves the tray I made from one of the doors. All for the cost of a $5 donation to Habitat for Humanity. Two good things in one! 

This is what I started out with. I liked the panels and the way this door was framed. I mean I immediately saw a tray!  So I painted it with a white bisque acrylic paint. I didn't care about full coverage because I knew the look I was going for and it wouldn't matter. 

Back Side of Door

After my first coat was dry, I went over it with a coat of Espresso acrylic paint. Again, I didn't care that it was all streaky. In fact that was better. 

Then, using my tried and true glue crackle technique, I slathered on a thick coat of cheap white glue, let it dry until tacky, then went back over top with another coat of the Bisque White and watched the magic crackle process happen. 

Crackle Step 1 : Cover With Glue

One of my New Year's resolutions was to use things in my stash that I hadn't because I was hanging on to them for some irrational reason. So I pulled out a stencil that I'd never used and added some leaves using  Martha Stewart acrylic paint: Grey Wolf: 

To finish, I added a pair of door handles I picked up at Target ( the screws weren't long enough for the thickness of the door so I just glued on using extra strong glue) . 

The cup is one I painted at a paint your own pottery place. 

Not so crazy now am I Mr. Chocolate?

BFF Open House Link Party

Happy Friday Eve all! Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day or Galentine's Day the day before or both! There were so many LOVEly (see what I did there)  ideas shared at last week's party. So here are some great ideas to pin for next year! 

Let's start with this gorgeous altered canvas print from ArtsyVaVa. The print was great but I really like how she altered it. 

Speaking of altered, how about these Valententine Art Heart Tartlets from Lynda Creates? 

Not all hearts have to be red . I love the simplicity and color of this necklace from Thistlewood Farms.

Of course, what's Valentine's Day without chocolate. How about these Hidden Heart Chocolate cupcakes from Sugar Spice and Family Life! Look at that frosting! 

Now on to this week's party! 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Card Making: Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

One upside to our snow day last week was it gave me a chance to finish this year's Valentine's Day cards. Fortunately I'd already cut out my focal images using my Silhouette Cameo since the power was out. The rest didn't require any electricity!

My colors this year were black, cream and fuschia. 

Here are the papers and supplies I used: 

• Black metallic Stardream cardstock 
• Cream Cardstock
• My  Minds Eye "From the Heart" gold foil heart paper
• Craft Smith gold foiled paper 
• Recollections gold mirror and fuschia glitter paper
• Watercolor paper 
• Watercolor paints 

I chose an image from the Silhouette Design Store and cut it from gold mirror cardstock. Waste not want not, this image resulted in a positive and negative so I had the hearts that were leftover from the middle of the framed image if that makes any sense, and used those as well. 

For the "framed hearts" as I'll call them, I mounted on cream cardstock, then the fuschia glitter paper. I cut a panel from the gold foiled heart paper ( 4x6) and mounted to the Stardream black card (5x7) and then mounted the focal as shown.

For the cards I made using the center hearts, I played around with some watercolors I picked up recently on a BOGO ( buy one get one free) at Aaron Brothers. Cone to think of it , the watercolor pad was from a previous Aaron Brothers BOGO. Spotting a trend? 

I just played around and made some background paper ( oh I added some gold mica inks): 

I trimmed this , mounted on black then gold paper and attached the gold mirror heart with a foam dot. 

I finished each style of card with gold sequins!

Hand Lettering Practice ... Happy Valentine's Day