It's a Sweet Life!

I can't get enough of this new Colorbok line called Sweet Life! It's colorful, fun, playful and downright yummy! It's perfect for birthday cards with its chipboard cupcake accents and sweet enough for a card that says I love you! I used it for a scrapbook page about Valentine's Day and projects that I want to give a fresh spring feeling to. I purchased my Sweet Life papers and embellishments from the on-line scrapbook store Two Peas in a Bucket and it's probably available at your local scrapbook store too. For some ready made cards and gifts using this line, visit my Etsy shop at http://www.cardblanc.etsy.com/.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

That's right, the next holiday coming our way is Easter and in the spirit of Mr. Cottontail, I dug out some patterned paper I had from last spring and gathered some ribbon, accents and card stock to make Easter cards. Oh what fun it is to play with pastel colors and flowers and to know that spring is just around the corner!

Sharing the Love

Yes, Valentine's Day has now past, but I'd like to share with you the sweetest little Valentine I received from my son. He came home from school last Friday so excited about exchanging Valentine's cards and treats with his classmates that he sat down at his art table in my office and began crafting away. When he was done he came over and handed me the adorable Valentine card photographed on this scrapbook page. I included the one I made for him as well, the blue one. It's these little moments that make life so sweet.

Paper-Playground

I'm loving this scrapbook kit club, Paper-Playground! I just joined their club a couple months ago and I'm having a ball with it! It's my first kit club because I didn't understand the need to have someone else coordinate a group of paper embellishments for me? Well, now I know! There's always a couple items in each kit that I probably wouldn't have purchased on my own and by having them included, I get to try different embellishments and learn new techniques. The above two projects are created from Paper-Playground's February kit that you can get your hot little hands on by logging onto http://www.paper-playground.com/. Meet you at the Playground! :)

Beautiful Fabrics

I don't sew in the traditional sense, but I love the look of stitching and fabrics applied to paper craft projects like greeting cards and scrapbook pages and I was thrilled to discover these colorful fabrics from Fabric Shoppe on Etsy. You can buy a bundle of fat quarters in gorgeous styles and colors, perfect for paper crafting. And if you adore the beautiful Amy Butler prints that K & Company incorporated into a line of scrapbook papers and embellishments, you will be happy to see this shop carries a lot of the Amy Butler prints. To see these fabrics click on http://www.fabricshoppe.etsy.com/ and enjoy the color and selection.

Scrap Ribbon Card

I found this funky and fun card idea while blog hopping and I HAVE to share it with you! These days I'm all about reducing, reusing and recycling so I was so thrilled to have stumbled upon this idea on Jennifer McGuire Ink, web address listed on the right. She used ribbon scraps to make a fantastic card! I thought I'd try one too! Mine didn't turn out quite as adorable as hers, but it's cute and you get the picture, right? Even the smallest pieces of ribbon will work and it doesn't have to coordinate! How cool is that? Happy scrappin'!

Class Valentine's Cards

Are the kids ready for Valentine's Day at school? Did they pick out their packs of Valentine cards yet? If not, here's a super simple Valentine design you can whip up at home in a hurry. With some colored construction paper or scrapbook paper, cut into 2 1/2" by 6" rectangles. An 8 1/2" by 11" sheet makes four cards. Use a two inch scalloped punch to make the white part of the card. A circle punch, heart punch or scalloped scissors will also work. The foam hearts I used are a Target Dollar Spot item and I didn't even use half of them! They are self adhesive so they're easy for kids to use. You could use other types of stickers too. Then with a rubber stamp, add a Valentine sentiment. The sentiment can be hand written as well. I added my sentiment by running my card stock through the printer before I cut it. Use whatever you have on hand. Finally I added a button to each heart to give it a little more pizazz. Happy Valentine's Day!

This Just In

How about some fun new ribbons and trim for the spring season? I just received a few new goodies in from May Arts and thought I'd give you a peek. If you want to see more, over 100 styles, log onto my Etsy shop at http://www.cardblanc.etsy.com/. Have fun browsing!

So Simple!

I love flipping through magazines like Better Homes & Gardens and I drool over the beautiful wares you can buy at stores like Pottery Barn, but in these economic times, I don't want to spend money on things our family doesn't need. And because I'm a crafty sort, I often wonder if I can make similar accents for less?

Absolutely! These butterfly shadowboxes were so simple to make, my husband could have done them! Well, maybe not. :) But you could! All you need is a couple shadowboxes from Target or your local craft store. Anything you want at Target will go on sale if you wait a couple weeks or craft stores like Michael's and A.C. Moore always have those weekly 40% off coupons. Anyway, once you get your shadowboxes head over to your local scrapbook store and buy a sheet of die cut butterfly card stock from K & Company. I think it cost $1.50 a sheet for 25 butterflies. Then pick out the butterflies you like the best, punch them out, fold the wings up a little, place a small pop dot in the center and stick it to the inside of your shadowbox! That's it! Yep, it's that easy! And look at the results!

From Trash to Treasure

Reduce, reuse, recycle...the three 'r' words that reside in the forefront of my mind. Even though my husband and I have brought our own grocery bags to the store for the last 10 years and have driven fuel efficient cars since the purchase of our first Honda Civic in 1992, and have been avid recyclers before we met one another, there's always room for improvement and we made some big ones last summer. We switched all our paper products from toilet paper and facial tissue to paper towels and napkins to brands made from 100% post consumer recycled paper. We also started buying natural household cleaners and make some of them ourselves. There's been a lot of little changes made along the way and we keep discovering more ways to live a greener lifestyle.

With that said, I decided to take this old chocolate heart shaped box that my husband gave me a couple years ago for Valentine's Day and dress it up to be used as a Valentine decoration. I covered the top of the box with this pretty glittered heart patterned paper and then used some wide rick rack along the underside of the lid to give it a scalloped shape. The top is then decorated with a wide white grosgrain ribbon bow, some mini rick rack and a strand of faux pearls. The tag is made from a Sizzix die cut machine and features a cute three dimensional glittered sticker from K & Company. I found this big white button in my stash and used it to attach the tag. So there you have it...from trash to treasure.

A Valentine for the Teacher

Recently, while scrappin' with my talented friend Audrey, I watched her make one of these adorable little heart shaped goody containers and thought it was just too cute and a perfect Valentine treat for my son's teachers. If you happen to own a Silhouette digital die cut machine by Quickutz, they just came out with a template for this project. The patterned papers I used are from Making Memories new Valentine line called Love Notes. I'm going to fill these little guys with some heart shaped Peeps, a lolly and perhaps a few Hershey Kisses. Hope this inspires you to make some goodies for your child's teacher or a special friend.