Whoo hoo! First Signs of Spring!!

Yeah!!! Spring is on its' way! About a month ago my horse started shedding her heavy winter coat- in droves I might add! Brushing her right now yields a huge pile of horse hair on the barn floor every day. Such a pile, it looks like she is standing on a white carpet. Now she doesn't normally start shedding so much so soon and in the fall our two horses got their winter coats early. We had an early arrival of winter here. So, now that she is shedding heavier than normal for this time of year, I'm hoping that means the arrival of spring earlier :-D.

I was out checking on my horse this afternoon because we opened up the other bigger pasture to her yesterday for the first time. The pasture that she stays in normally is five acres, but now the part that we opened up to her is about 25 acres. She can now go between the two pastures at will. Mostly she has been staying in the bigger pasture (the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, lol), but I didn't see her out the window so I wanted to make sure she was in the little pasture. She was :-). While I was out checking on Starlight, my daughter told me that she noticed the daffodils were coming up yesterday. Upon further investigation, I found that the trees all have tiny buds on them too! So I wanted to share my proof that Spring is close with all of you ;-).

This tree gets beautiful pink flowers all over it each Spring and it has big buds already! Look at how BLUE the sky is!!! I do NOT miss the gray skies of winter at all and I am so happy that we have had sunshiny days and blue skies like this one for the last few days.

The daffodils are indeed coming up and they are tall already! They are about four to five inches tall right now.

Above- the irises are starting to peek up out of the ground too. I am keeping an eye on the peonies- they aren't poking up yet, but maybe in the next week or so. And this week we are supposed to have 40-50 degree days all week! Let the flowers bloom, let the sun shine bright in blue, blue skies, and let Spring arrive in all its triumphant glory!!

Blessings!
Barb

Oh, I made some cute projects this weekend, so check back this week :-D.

Donna

Happy Retirement my dear friend!!! May you enjoy every single day of doing whatever you want whenever you want!!

Barb

Top Note Needle Book

This morning I started out with something completely different in mind to work on than what I ended up doing, but it worked out pretty well :-). I don't know about you, but I sometimes need to use a needle for some of my crafting projects. I kept my needles close at hand by sticking them into a piece of ribbon that had some Snail on the back, which I stuck to my cabinet. First off, that wasn't very pretty to look at, but it was somewhat serving its purpose. This morning as I looked up and saw my little piece of ribbon, I decided I was going to do something about it once and for all. There had to be a nicer way to keep those needles close by! I thought about it for a few minutes and decided that a needle book is what I needed. Needle books were before my time, but I remember reading about them in books as a kid and ya' know, needle books deserve a comeback, don't ya' think ;-) ? I looked around my room wondering what would make a good needle book and then the light bulb went off- the Top Note die would be perfect!! So here it is, my little needle book.....

I used a scrap of Sending Love Designer Series Paper from the current Occasions Mini and paired it with the retired Pirouette Pink. I so wish we still had Pirouette Pink (sigh). I topped my book with a flower punched out from my 5 Petal Flower punch and the Little Leaves Sizzlit. When you open the needle book, there are two pages of white felt to stick your needles into. Two pages is plenty for my personal crafting use :-) .

My little needle book is bound on the inside and on the outside so there are no unsightly edges showing. I think the Scallop edge punch looks pretty as a binding- what do you think? As you can see in the photo below, I put an eyelet in the binding to hold my notebook ring securely.

And here is my completed little needle book hanging on the hook along with my card stock sample ring. All nice and handy and cute, cute, cute! No more ugly ribbon for my needles, no sirree Bob!

I really like my little needle book and I am so glad that I made this instead of what I was going to make this morning. I can sleep well at night knowing that my needles are still handy, but so cutely housed ;-) . LOL!! Have a blessed day today and a wonderful weekend!!!

Edited to add: I did a little tiny bit of research this morning on needle books so wanted to share-
Needles, apparently were quite the deal to make at one time, so people did not want to lose their needles. All the way back to the Vikings, people kept their needles in ornamental boxes and cases, so they clearly were highly valued. During Victorian times needle cases were made of materials such as bone, sterling silver, pewter, wood, and of course, Victorian women hand embroidered and hand sewed needle books to hold their 'labor intensive to make' needles. So there you have it- a little bit of history about needle books :-).

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Regal Rose- 105130, Pretty in Pink- 100459, Old Olive- 100702, Barely Banana- 102701, Pink Pirouette (retired- boo hoo hoo!), Sending Love Designer Series Paper
Classic Stampin' Ink: Pretty in Pink- 101301
Punches: 5 Petal Flower- 109041, Trio Flower- 109183, Scallop edge- 112091
Dies: Top Note- 113463, Little Leaves- 114511, Big Shot machine- 113439
Other: Hobby Blade- 102449, Crop-a-dile- 108362, 2 small eyelets, 1 large eyelet, brad, white felt, 1/8" white grosgrain ribbon- Offray, 1" notebook ring, Scor-it Board, scrap of white chipboard inside a pack of Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper

Rag Quilt Bag

Right now Rag Quilt Bags are all the rage among Stampin' Up Demonstrators and they are so cute! It all started, I think, on the Chic' n Scratch blog. Since I found this cute bag on Angie's blog, I have been on the hunt for some really cute fabric so I could make my own, but couldn't find anything I really liked. A couple of days ago I was in JoAnne's Fabric Store and found this adorable lady bug fabric. It was too cute to pass up! I found some red fabric to coordinate with my little lady bugs and off I went to return home and make my bag. This was soooo easy to make, but the instructions are long, very long indeed. But, the good news is that Angie, the creator of this little bag has kindly posted three video tutorials for you if you would like to make your own, right here.

I just LOVE my little bag! I'm going to have to make some of these for my daughters. Have a wonderful day everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Big Shot machine- 113439
Scallop Square die- 115950
Fabric
Cotton Batting
Thread to match

Stockin' Up on Gift Tags!

I always need gift tags throughout the year for all kinds of gifts- birthday, anniversary, best wishes, wedding, thinking of you, and of course, for the holidays. I never seem to have any on hand, so this year I decided that I would stock a stash of tags and be prepared! These are soooo quick to make, you could make a bunch of them while watching TV with your family :-).

I really like vellum die cut with the Scallop Envelope die. I think it looks so pretty and elegant to have the card inside showing through the envelope. After I put my envelope together I punch a tiny hole in the back of the envelope to thread some white cotton crochet thread through so I can hang it on a package or bag or treat box. In the photo below is one of my gift tags inside the envelope and ready to go.

A close up of the tag inside the vellum envelope:

And two more tags that I made for my gift tag stash:

The dimensions for making these: Cut one scrap of card stock 2" x 3" for each tag. Cut a mat for each tag 2 1/8" x 3 1/8". Stamp or embellish the 2" x 3" piece and then layer onto the 2 1/8" x 3 1/8" piece. Die cut a vellum envelope from the Scallop Envelope die for each gift tag. Then add them to your gift tag stash ;-). Easy Peasy!! Have a wonderful day!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Cute and Curly- 111630 (retired- Vintage Labels- 119122 is a good substitute), Cheep Talk- 113204, Teeny Tiny Wishes- 115370
Paper: Lavender Lace- 101614, Barely Banana- 102701, Old Olive- 100702, Whisper White- 100730, Melon Mambo- 115320, Bashful Blue- 105120, Regal Rose- 105130, vellum
Classic Stampin' Ink: Lavender Lace- 101305, Old Olive- 102277, Melon Mambo- 115656, Pretty in Pink- 101301, Bashful Blue- 105209, Chocolate Chip- 100908, Always Artichoke- 105219, Brocade Blue- 101102, Regal Rose- 105211
Stampin' Write Markers: Regal Rose- 105108, Old Olive- 100079, Barely Banana- 100039, Bordering Blue- 102265, Certainly Celery- 105106
Punches: Curly Label- 112208
Dies: Movers and Shapers Curly Label- 114506, Punch Windows- 115953, Little Leaves- 114511, Scallop Envelope- 113462
Other: Stampin' Dimensionals- 104430, pink and lavender gems

Quick and Easy Bookmarks

Do you have a reader in your life? If you do, then they are probably like me and can never have enough bookmarks! With two sheets of 8.5" x 11" card stock you can make your favorite reader SIX bookmarks to keep them going :-). These are so quick to make, an added plus when you might be strapped for time. For these bookmarks I used two stamps sets- the new Sweetheart set which was added to the Occasions Mini and I used the sentiment in Razzle Dazzle. The heart in the center is punched with the Full Heart punch from Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper. Such pretty paper!

I made several, so photographed three of them for you to see. I also heat laminated my bookmarks when I was done for added durability, but they are great without being laminated too :-).

To make six bookmarks you will need:
1 8.5"x11" sheet of Very Vanilla or Whisper White card stock
1 8.5"x11" sheet of background color card stock of your choice

Cut the Very Vanilla into six 2.5" x 5" rectangles. Cut the background sheet of card stock into six 2.75" x 5.25" rectangles. Stamp your images, laminate if you choose to laminate, punch two holes in the top to thread your ribbon through and you're done. And you have a cute little gift that you can put inside a card, add to a package, or just give as is. Have a wonderful day today!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Sweetheart- 120780, Razzle Dazzle- 116714
Paper: Melon Mambo- 115320, Very Vanilla- 101650, Rich Razzleberry- 115316, Regal Rose Designer Series Paper- Hostess/retired, Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper- 115671
Classic Stampin' Ink: Melon Mambo- 115656, Old Olive- 102277, Rich Razzleberry- 115658
Punches: Full Heart- 113693
Other: Melon Mambo 1/2" grosgrain ribbon- 115611, Rich Razzleberry 1/2" grosgrain ribbon- 115613, Crop-a-dile- 108362, heat laminator (optional), Fray Check (on ribbon ends)

Good Neighbor Basket

I had so much fun making my Barely Banana Easter Basket, that I decided to make another basket. I've had my 'Good Neighbor' Sale-a-Bration stamp set for a while now, but wasn't sure what I was going to do with it first. I had pink in mind for this basket and thought it would be cute to make one to put home baked cookies in to share with a neighbor. I would put more cookies in my basket than what I have in my photo though, lol!

This is the front of my cookie basket. The Good Neighbor stamp set is just too perfect for this little cookie basket, don't ya' think? ;-)

I layered Bashful Blue card stock onto Regal Rose before I stuck the panels down on my basket sides. I don't think you can really tell in the photos, but I inked the edges of the Bashful Blue card stock with Bashful Blue ink to give the sky some depth. If you look closely at the photo above you will see the little white picket fence I drew in with my gel pen.

I made little buttons by punching out three 3/4"circles and gluing them together. After gluing, punch two holes with the smallest setting on the Crop-a-dile. Ink the edges to finish off the buttons. This is the opposite side of my basket. The two sides with the buttons where the handle attaches, both have trees only on the panels.

I layered some Bashful Blue and Barely Banana Trio Flowers on the Old Olive leaves to the handle of my basket to complete.

I put together a collage of three of the side panels on my cookie basket so you can see them all together. I only put one of the tree panels because both panels are basically the same, except that one has two trees instead of three.

If you would like to make this basket, please refer to this post for instructions and materials needed.

I have more projects to post this week that are quick and easy and cute! Please check back in to see those :-). Have a wonderful week everyone and thanks for visiting!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Good Neighbor- 119116, To You and Yours- 111706 {sentiment (retired)} you can substitute with Teeny Tiny Wishes- 115370
Paper: Pretty in Pink- 100459, Regal Rose- 105130, Bashful Blue- 105120, Barely Banana- 102701, Old Olive- 100702, Whisper White- 100730
Classic Stampin' Ink: Brocade Blue- 101102, Regal Rose- 105211, Old Olive- 102277, Bashful Blue- 105209, Apricot Appeal- 105218
Stampin' Write Markers: Always Artichoke- 105113, Certainly Celery- 105106, Barely Banana- 100039, Regal Rose- 105108, Old Olive- 100079
Punches: Eyelet Border- 113692, 3/4" Circle- 107217, Modern Label- 116630, Word Window- 105090, Trio Flower- 109183, 1/4" Circle
Dies: Little Leaves- 114511, Scallop Square- 115950
Big Shot machine: 113439
Other: Crop-a-dile- 108362, Brads- 106954, sponges- 101610, white gel pen- 105021, hemp cord, blue and yellow gems

A Tisket, A Tasket

A Barely Banana Basket! ;-)

I must work on projects in my sleep sometimes because I woke up with this basket in mind, lol! I headed to my stamping room and got started with all the details already worked out. I wish it was that easy everyday! I chose to use Barely Banana and Lavender Lace for my basket, with a touch of Whisper White.

Materials:
ScallopEnvelope die
4 pieces of Barely Banana card stock 4.25" x 5.25"- die cut one envelope from each
1 strip of Lavender Lace card stock 2" x 11"
1 scrap of Lavender Lace card stock 2"x 3"
1 strip of Whisper White card stock 1.75" x 11"
1 strip of Barely Banana card stock 1/2" x 11"
Eyelet Border Punch
Trio Flower punch
Stamps and inks of choice
2 brads

To create this basket, die cut four Scallop Envelopes from Barely Banana. You will notice on your envelope die cut that you have two narrow side flaps where the envelope bottom will fold up and attach to the sides to create the envelope. You have a right narrow flap and a left narrow flap. Along the score line impression on the right side of each envelope die cut, you will cut the right narrow flap off of each of the envelopes. Use your bone folder and fold the remaining left side flap and bottom flap in toward the score lines. The top of the envelope that has the scalloped edge will be folded toward the opposite side. After you have creased your folds, adhere the remaining left side flap to the inside of the right side of the next envelope- where you cut off the flap. Make sure your edges are lined up. You will want all of your flaps on the inside of the basket. Adhere all the sides together to form a square box and then fold in and adhere the bottom flaps to form a square box. Cut a square 3 1/8" to adhere to the inside bottom of your basket. You will have a tiny opening in the bottom after adhering the bottom flaps, so the 3 1/8" square will cover that nicely.

For the handle of the basket, cut Whisper White card stock into a 1.75" x 11" strip. With the Eyelet Border punch, punch each side of the strip. Center and adhere a 1/2" x 11" strip of Barely Banana to the Whisper White Eyelet border strip. To attach the handle, find the center of two opposite sides of your basket and pierce a hole in each of the two sides about a 1/2" from the top edge of the fold where the scalloped edge flap of the envelope would fold down. Do not pierce the scalloped edge flap of the envelope. Attach the handle with brads from the inside of the basket so the prongs are on the outside, making sure the scalloped edge flaps are up and that you do not put the brads through them. The prongs will be covered in the next step.

I stamped Lavender Lace with one of my Razzle Dazzle stamps in Lavender Lace ink to create the stripes on my basket. Cut the Lavendar Lace in a 2" x 11" strip and stamp the entire strip. You will need to stamp another strip 2" x 3" for the last side of the basket. From your 2" x 11" stamped strip, cut three pieces 2" x 3", center and adhere to your basket sides, scalloped edge flaps up so you can fold them down later. Adhere your last stamped 2" x 3" Lavender Lace strip to the last side of the basket. Punch out seven little flowers with the Trio Flower punch and shape them with a stylus (see instructions for the flowers below). Die cut leaves from Old Olive with the Little Leaves die and cut the leaves apart. Adhere the leaves to the centers of the scalloped edge flaps and then adhere a prepared flower in the center of the leaves. I chose to adhere my flaps down over my Lavender Lace striped card stock, but you could leave them loose if you want to. Repeat with each flap.

Adhere three flowers and leaves to the center of the basket handle. I added some gems in the centers of my flowers before I adhered them to my basket, but you could also use brads for the centers. Cut very thin strips of Lavender Lace card stock, about 1/16" - 1/8" x 11" for each strip, and crumple the strips in your hands for the filling in your basket. I learned this trick from another Stampin' Up demo :-). Cool, huh? OK, one last view of the side of the basket.

To create the flowers: Punch out the flowers with the Trio Flower punch. Place the flowers on the thick foam mat from the Mat Pack. If you don't have the Mat Pack, thick Fun Foam will work. Using the large ball end of your stylus press gently while at the same time moving the ball in a circular motion in the center of each flower petal until you have formed a nice rounded indentation in 'each' petal. After you have done all the petals, flip the flower over on the foam pad and press down into the center of the flower with your stylus. Not too hard though- you just want to shape the flower, you don't want to put a hole through the center. At this point you can add a gem or a tiny brad in the center of your flower. And that's it- you have created a 3D flower!

Fill your basket with small Easter candies, a plastic egg filled with little treats or a small gift, or a real Easter Egg! Of course, these little baskets are great for other uses too, not just for Easter baskets ;-). Just picture a cute little flower girl basket for a wedding shower table, in pink or blue for a baby shower... these would pretty much work for a lot of holidays and themes. I hope you have fun making your basket!! Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a wonderful day today!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Razzle Dazzle- 116714
Paper: Barely Banana- 102701, Lavender Lace- 101614, Old Olive- 100702,
Whisper White- 100730
Classic Stampin' Ink: Lavender Lace- 101305
Dies: Scallop Envelope- 113462, Little Leaves- 114511
Punches: Trio Flower- 109783, Eyelet Border- 113692
Other: Lavender gems

Beautiful Wings Butterflies

This card is one that I made for one of my aunts. Her birthday is today, so can you guess? Yep, this is her birthday card! I started out with a Certainly Celery base for my card and added a layer of Barely Banana. I embossed Very Vanilla in my Big Shot and inked my piece with a sponge dauber. I used Pretty in Pink for the flowers and used my Barely Banana marker to do the centers. Sponge daubered on some Old Olive for the swirls and leaves, Barely Banana for the background behind the flowers. I used a scallop circle punch out as a mask to create the soft clouds with Bashful Blue ink and my sponge dauber. I finished it off with three of the Beautiful Wings embosslit butterflies available now in the Occasions Mini. This was a really easy and quick card to make. It took me about 15 minutes from start to finish, so a great card to whip out when you need one fast.

Did I mention that our ducks have created a nest? We have two females and one male so we are hoping for baby quackers soon. They have been faithfully tending their nest so we will see. If we end up with some little quackers, I'll be sure to get some photos and post them so you can see how cute they are :-). Have a great day everyone! I'll be posting an Easter Basket tomorrow that I made a couple of days ago with the Scallop Envelope die. And you thought it was just for envelopes ;-)

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Certainly Celery- 105125, Barely Banana- 102701, Almost Amethyst- 102158, Very Vanilla- 101650
Ink: (All Classic Stampin' Ink) Pretty in Pink- 101301, Old Olive- 102277, Barely Banana- 101170, Bashful Blue- 105209
Dies: Beautiful Wings- 118138
Punches: Scallop Circle- 109043
Other: Elegant Bouquet embossing folder- 115964, sponge daubers- 102892, Lavender Stickles

Vintage Type Birthday Card

I am finally back. We took some time to grieve the sudden death of our very loved horse (see two previous posts below) and then my husband got sick with a nasty virus. I got it next and still don't feel 100%, but working my way there :-). The snow here is beginning to melt a little at a time, so I am hoping that the snow is done now for this winter and that spring is just on the horizon. We have had such extended winters for the last few years here that an early spring would be awesome! I know that the groundhog says no to an early spring, but I don't know, he isn't always right, lol! My horse, Starlight, is already shedding her winter coat in droves. She and Sadie got their winter coats early in the autumn of 2009, so I knew that the cold was coming early and sure enough, it did. God has equipped animals so well :-). If I want to know when the rain is coming I just have to look out of my kitchen window to see if the horses are down by the barn. Once they get to the barn it will rain within 30 minutes, like clockwork. They know. So, since Starlight is shedding her heavy winter coat as much as she is right now, I am thinking that maybe, just maybe, spring is just around the corner. I hope so. I am sooooo ready for winter to be over and to see some green again.

I made a card before I got to feeling droopy, but with all that has transpired I didn't get around to posting it. I LOVE the Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper by Stampin' Up! I think it has to be my most favorite. This paper lends itself easily to a vintage look, so that was where I took it for this card. I inked the edges of the Top Note die cut and the Small Tag punch with Creamy Caramel to give it a bit of an aged look. I have seen a lot of flowers recently made by stamping tissue paper and then punching out flower shapes. The flowers look great! I ran out of white tissue paper at Christmas time though, and haven't had a chance to replenish my supply yet. I wanted to try these flowers so I used what I had- vellum! It does take a while for stamped vellum to dry, but you can speed up the drying process by using your heat tool. Just don't get too close to the vellum while heating the ink dry because you could burn it or cause it to warp.

I used one of my favorite birthday sentiments on the inside of this card and added three butterflies from the new Beautiful Wings embosslit in the Occasions Mini. The stamped swirl I used for the butterflies is from Snow Buddies, a hostess set from the 2009 Holiday Mini, but you could use any swirl stamp that you have on hand or draw the swirl yourself. I inked the edges of the inside of my card with Creamy Caramel so it would be consistent with the aged look of the outside, then added a touch of Old Olive.

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful week so far and that you are all staying warm and cozy. I'll be back tomorrow! Have a great day!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: En Francais- 109521, Teeny Tiny Wishes- 115370, Snow Buddies- 116505 (hostess-2009 Holiday Mini)
Paper: Bordering Blue- 102630, Very Vanilla- 101650, Old Olive- 100702, Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper- 113974
Ink: All Classic Ink used: Bordering Blue- 102265, Creamy Caramel- 103220, Bordering Blue Stampin' Write marker- 100070
Dies: Little Leaves- 114511, Swirls Scribbles- 113441, Beautiful Wings embosslit- 118138, Top Note- 113463
Punches: Tag- 105934, Small Tag- 108264, Trio Flower- 109183, 5 Petal Flower- 109041, Double Rectangle- 105088
Other: Very Vanilla 1/4" grosgrain ribbon- 109026, vellum