Luck o' the Irish

Hi there! 

I'm posting this sweet Irish Chickies card as part of the mini hop feature with Denami.

Because the Irish Chickies are the Spotlight Feature this week, they are on sale for 10% off AND, you have the chance to win this stamp by leaving comments on each of the DT members' blogs.

I used the Lucky Irish stamp set to create my background, as well as the Good Luck sentiment. That gold buckle was a last minute thought and I love how it mimics the buckle on their hats!

Ready to see lots of cute Irish inspired cards?

DeNami blog 

Lisa Petrella
Deb Wabbe
Wendy Elliot
Emily Keaton
Lisa Elton
Pattie Goldman
Dana Seymour (You are here)
Tammy Hobbs

Thanks for stopping by,

XOXO

Inspired by...Stacy!

Hi! Welcome to the very first Inspired By post with Denami!

This is where, on the 3rd Wednesday of every month, the DT chooses one of YOUR Denami cards, and uses it for inspiration!

This month it was STACY'S elegant card!

I had never made a Z-fold card before seeing hers, so I focused on that and kept the birthday theme as well. 

Instead of flowers, I went with the Solid Decorative Crest, shadow stamping it both in peach and white to look raised, and used the matching Decorative Crest Circle inside the Elegant Square Frame as the focal point. The Happy Birthday Script in pale grey was added as the sentiment. 

You should see the samples by the rest of the DT! 

Go check them out! 

GORGEOUS. 

(and they did a much better job of sticking to Stacy's original color scheme...oops!)

Want to have one of YOUR Denami cards featured? 

Link them up here for use to choose from:)

Thanks for stopping by,

and thanks to Stacy for her super duper original card!

XOXO

St. Valentine's Day

I big ole puffy heart this holiday! ♥

I know it's a "money maker" for Hallmark, but I've been making handmade valentines since I was barely old enough to hold a crayon. I like to think I've passed that tradition down to my own kids.

Here's my youngest munchkin creating some Valentines for his grandma and his dad.
♥♥♥♥♥

He is using my simple tutorial of folding a heart into an envelope and writing on the inside:) And I love that he decided to "nest" them inside each other and make it super interactive for the recipients too! 

See here for a full tutorial.

And here are the school valentines we made for his class this year. 

He was so excited and would not stop gushing about them *smile*

The back of the glow bracelet "Light Saber" is simply adhered with a piece of washi tape!

Now, I have a recipe for you today but in the interest of full disclosure...

I am THAT mom. 

You know which one I mean.

The health nut freak who doesn't allow her kids HFCS, synthetic food dyes, preservatives, GMO ingredients, processed sugars, white bleached flours, and hormone filled dairy. 

That mom.

Yep, that's me!

(I can hear your eyes rolling)

*chuckle*

So I usually opt for an alternative "treat" when it comes to school functions and gatherings of any kind. I mean, the other kids get plenty of "crap" on a regular basis, and a school Valentine Party is no exception, so I like to have an alternative to all the sweet, red dyed, junk that I KNOW will be present.

We've done fruit kebabs, mini boxes of organic raisins, veggies and dip, homemade cheese crackers, etc.

This year it's healthy Granola Bites!

(please excuse the terrible photos. They were taken in my kitchen last night around 9 pm.)

These mini treats are loved by anyone who makes them, and they take less than 5 minutes to make. They are also incredibly adaptable to your individual tastes. 

Don't like cherries? Use cranberries!

Don't like almond butter? Use peanut butter!

Granola Bites

1/3 cup raw honey

1/3 cup organic nut butter (I use almond)

2 Tbsp. organic coconut oil

1 cup of crisp rice cereal (or whatever other cereal floats your boat)

1 cup old fashioned organic oats

1/3 cup chopped dried fruit 

(cherries, cranberries and blueberries were used here, but we've done raisins, dried apples, dried apricots, currants, dried pineapple, etc)

1/4 cup of any other add-in

 (this time I used mini chocolate chips, but shredded coconut, pumpkin seeds, chopped nuts, flax seed, mini marshmallows, protein powder, etc. all work)

1. Over very low heat, melt the honey, nut butter and coconut oil together just until combined. Do not "cook" the ingredients, merely warm them up enough that they meld together. 

2. Pour this over the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. 

3. Pack tightly into balls and chill for about an hour to set. (sometimes we eat them seconds after they have been rolled into balls with no waiting time:)

I'm wishing all of you a very happy St. Valentine's Day! 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Thanks for stopping by,

XOXO

Things will get better

Brrr, it's a chilly -10°F here this morning. 

If that doesn't make me long for spring, nothing will!

Today the Denami DT is spotlighting the beautiful Solid Rose Accents cling set.

This set is one of my very favorite Denami stamp sets ever. 

It's INCREDIBLY versatile and so pretty, and it's on sale for 10% off, so now is the best time to grab it!

 I used it here for a sympathy card with the Things will get better sentiment matted with the Elegant Oval Frame. I also added in a few tiny dotted flowers from the Garden Accents set, and topped it with a few rhinestones in black. 

Be sure to check out the Denami blog to see lots of beautiful ways to use this Solid Rose Accents set. You won't be disappointed.

Thanks for stopping by,

XOXO

Opposites

Welcome! I have two cards up on the Casual Fridays Stamps blog today. This first one is pretty clean and simple using some of their unique dies.  I stamped the sentiment from Woot Woot onto the Oval tag die, and strategically placed three "splatters" or "jacks"  from the Funky round tags die set above the sentiment. Some white gel pen dots and a button finished it off! (Looking at it now, I want to round those bottom corners very badly.)

This next card is not at all CAS, clearly:)

 I began by stamping the flower images from Loving Thoughts onto the die cuts I made with the complementary Loving Blooms die set. Then I used a wet paintbrush to simple swipe the dye ink from the edges towards the center to give each flower a bit of tonal color. 

The yellow banner was stamped using Losta Links. (The blue banner is from some printable "glitter" paper I purchased on Etsy from SonyaDeHart. I love that stuff! So many colors and no actual glitter to fall off or make a mess!) 

In retrospect, I would stitch around the border of the card were I to do it again. 

 The sentiment, also from Loving Thoughts was a last minute change. I had been planning to hang a smaller tag from the ribbon with a tiny sentiment on it, but changed my mind.

 I'm a  woman.

 I can do that. 

At will. 

And frequently:)

Oh hey, don't forget about the Blue Challenge still happening right now at Casual Fridays Stamps! The winner will be a guest designer and get free product! 

Thanks for stopping by,

XOXO

Polka Dots everywhere!

Happy Sunday crafty friends!

I'm playing along with the February Denami Blog Hop so if you came from Donna Bowman's blog you are on the right track. This month we are all about the polka dots!

Who doesn't love polka dots? They can easily be gender neutral, which is why I created a set of 41/4" square cards for several occasions. I used the Mini Polka Dot stamp and the Medium Polka Dots BG stamp for each card, then just changed out the sentiment. 

You are Sweet

Hang in there

Happy Birthday

Thinking of you

Here's how I did it...

1. Punch a shape from computer/printer paper, and lightly adhere to your cardstock base. 

2. Use the Mini Polka Dot stamp to add your color in a gradient style spreading out from the edge of the punched shape from darkest to lightest.

3. Peel up the punched shaped.

4. Voila!

Bonus Tip:

When I can't find the perfect matching cardstock for a mat layer, I use the same ink and just swipe it across the edges of a white mat layer, creating a perfect match that looks like cardstock! 

Your next polka dot creation is on the blog of Lyndal. I know without a doubt that she has something fabulous up her creative sleeve for your inspiration! Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win one of two $20 Gift Certificates to Denami Design before you go:)

Thanks for stopping by today,

XOXO

The Winter Blues challenge

Are you as tired of winter as I am? The snow can melt any day now and I would be a happy camper!

We've had ONE day with temperatures above freezing in three weeks. 

One day. 

And the temp was 33° F. 

*facepalm*

In honor of the winter blues, Casual Friday Stamps is hosting it's FIRST EVER CHALLENGE!

Use any CFS stamp or Fri-Die set and the color blue and let your mojo fly!

Any style from CAS to Layer-licious is welcome, as long as your project is new.

The challenge will end at 11:59 pm on February 14th.

The prize is pretty awesome...the winner will be a Guest Designer for one of CFS's upcoming releases, which of course means you will receive something yummy that hasn't been seen before, and have your project featured on the store blog during sneak peek week!

I couldn't resist focusing on the "blues" aspect of winter. SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is a very real thing when you live with winter for 6 months out of the year. But things always get better because spring arrives eventually :)

 I used Butterbows and Breathe and the large Bubble Label Fri-Die on my blue card.

Head on over to the CFS blog and link up your Winter Blues project! 

Be sure to check out the awesome cards the DT has posted for your inspiration as well.

Thanks for stopping by,

XOXO