You're the BALM!

So I made these a few months ago for Valentine's Day but a good friend of mind ordered some just for plan old "Thank You" gifts for some friends. I probably sound like a broken record but Core Tags are the easiest for this kind of quick gift.

Here is another, simpler version if you don't want to die cut the letters. I LOVE running my smooth Core Tags through the printer. Is super easy!  I print on a scrap piece of paper, then adhere the tag with some washi tape so I can remove them without tearing. Add some May Arts Ribbon and you are done. 

GREEN Mason Jar Fun!

Colored Mason Jars are the bomb. These green ones are so festive for this time of year with St. Paddy's day right around the corner! These large ones are perfect for a Lemongrass Spa body spritz, sugar scrub sample and lotion!  THE easiest gift ever AND are super easy to make to order. 

A Core Tag and button, some May Arts ribbon and you are good to go!  Of course, personalizing it is key. 

Sorry for the different background but I wanted a good shot of the contents and was playing with backgrounds.  I save raffia from gift baskets that our family gets so I always have plenty on hand. 

ENJOY!

I'm here!

I can't believe I am blogging again! 

I couldn't be more excited to be srapbooking and crafting again. 

Life is changing a bit for me and I found the urge to get out and make stuff again. Maybe it's a release, maybe it's because I have more time but most of it's because I MISSED IT.  Life is short and we have to make time for what we love and I love paper. Always have...always will so it was time to get down and dirty again and it felt GREAT!

This layout is for the CSI Case File no. 128 that Core'dinations is sponsoring so head over there for a chance to win some CORE! 

I need to get a handle on my photo editing skills again...you never realize how easy this stuff was and now I'm like, "how did I do that?  AND how did I do that so quickly?" But it feels good. So this little number is about H a.k.a Henry and is first day of sub zero baseball LAST  YEAR. Yep, I am even more behind on photos then that. 

Getting back into the swing of layering is not easy!

And of course banners are still in style! 

And last but not least, my newest favorite obsession...these deco photos from Snapfish! EEEEEEEK, I love love them. They are a bit more expensive than traditional photos but to get a few here and there won't break the bank and it's nice for a change. Plus...you can get square ones which I lurve. 

Well, that's it for now. Back to work on my other THREE layouts I have started!!! Wooop woooop!

If you "mustache"....

Hi Everyone!

Not sure if you noticed but I changed the name of my blog so you will need to "re"follow me now. I figured now was as good a time as any because I was slacking for blogging for so long but I am getting back on the horse now. 

So if I am blogging that means I am FINALLY getting creative again! With henry starting Kindergarden (sniff sniff) this year I am finding more time to get my swerve on ;)

First up is this frame I made with TONs of Core...Tim Holtz Kraft Core, Black Magic, & JBS Core Amour (sand the white finish and the red stars come through). I love love this photo of Brian's Uncle and Owen sportin' the 'staches! We found this vending machine when we were our there visiting in AR over Easter that dispensed mustaches for a quarter! What?!!??!  Needless to say a few dollars later we all had them. The blonde ones, like owen's, were the best, LOL. Of course, Uncle Dave has his own ;)

I used my Silhouette, too! Wooot woooot! Who doesn't need a mustache cut file?

Father's Day cards

Happy Saturday!  It feels so good to be back to creating these days. I even made some FATHER'S DAY cards! I never am on time with this kind of thing so I am pretty stoked, LOL!

They were up on the Core Blog this week to so check them out HERE.

 I was inspired this week by two different things.

First up, I was working with some Couture Creations dies and after my cut I realized unfortunately that my sandwich was wrong. So it didn't cut all the way through. That happens to me from time to time and I just put them in my recycle bin. WEll not this this time! I thought...I can do something with that...and I did! You have to check out their Doily dies..they are AWESOME! And versatile....

There was no way I could cut this with craft knife because it was too detailed so I grabbed my Sand it Gadget and I sanded and sanded and sanded a bit more and the "etched" image created starts to pop off the card.  It's subtle but I think it works AND I saved some scraps ;)

I hope you can see that...in person it looks really cool. Subtle ...it looks almost like patterned paper. Just added some May Arts burlap string.

And next up I was in my inbox and the daily RSS feed from Scrapbook & Cards Today was there and I found this treat: Folded Shirt Card for Father's Day!

Aly Dosdal from the WRMK Design Team originally did the video so I had to try it out because I just KNEW that Core w0uld be awesome with this tutorial. I used Core Essentials for the shirt, Chocolate Box for the tie and background and a David Tutera Celebrate card for the base. I cannot get enough of these square cards!   For the original video check out the WRMK blog .

I gotta tell you...I did it on the FIRST try so it wasn't that hard. You will need your Scor-Pal or scoring tool of some sort.

And  here is the inside of the card. You can open it up and put something in there.

Core & Hampton Art

Hi! Happy Tuesday!

I hope you are  having fun with Hampton Art & Core this week! Today I have a gift bag set for you using Core'dinations David Tutera Celebrate cardmaking system and Hampton Art stamps.

Did you know that the Step 2 layers fit perfectly on craft bags?!  How cool is that and I picked these up at  my local craft store and the A7 Large Dot embossed layer fit great. Don't forget to sand ;)

I used a bookmark tag from Step 3 for this cutie little owl. He is so sweet! You can never have too many owls in your stamping arsenal!

{remember to click on pics to make  them larger...a fun little slide show pops up}

and here is a close up of the bookmark/tag. I actually cut them on a smooth cardbase that I messed up and was going to throw away. So instead...I stamped on it and then cut the images out and raised the owl up with a pop up dot.

And you need a card, RIGHT? I add some Hampton Art stamps to the envelope and the inside of the card. 

I mixed and matched some Step 3 layers and our Chocolate Box cardstock. Thought it went with the pink and brown thing. I have boys so I rarely get to use pink!!!!

SO..here is your list...happy hopping!!!

Britt Bass http://pinkpapercrowns.blogspot.com/

Vivian Keh http://contadinak.wordpress.com/

Ellen Sosnoski http://closeyourears.blogspot.com/ (you are here)

Remember to start at Core and end at Hampton Art---> THEY BOTH HAVE GIVEAWAYS!!!!

Hampton Art blog: http://blog.hamptonart.com/ START HERE

Core'dination's blog: http://www.coredinations.com/index.php/cat...scrapbook-blog/END HERE