SOAPBOX CREATIONS: January 2013

1/31/13

Happy!

It's been a week since I've been in this room. I thought I'd better do some cleaning...trying to get back in the mood....and found this card I made back in December. I made this out of my first ever SC kit from a couple months ago. This was actually my first wood veneer card attempt and I was actually sorta scared of these wood things and for the same reason never posted this card. :) Since then, I have shared several creations using wood veneers...I've gotten over the fear and onto being addicted. So I thought I would stop in and share this card.

I decided to use some pattern paper in layers again. I only used 3 stamps here too. The circle stamp and the happy stamp are from an SC Silhouette class kit and the You & Me stamp is from the SC kit I got in December, along with those fun feathers! I've been thinking a lot about the rule of thirds, which I feel I sort of lean towards anyway. But this card definitely is all about the middle third. Do you have a specific design you lean towards?

I'm really liking this card. I think its a totally non-trad Valentines day card. I love the soft colors and that BG paper makes me happy!

Hope you are having a happy Thursday! I am off to the market for some fruit. I am hooked on smoothies lately. So if you have any fun recipes to share, please do!

This one is Strawberries, Banana, Mango, Spinach, Coconut Milk, Flax and Chia Seeds. So yummy and no sweeteners added!

Alright! Hope you have a great day!

1/30/13

Pinterest Party

So Friday night I went to a Pinterest Party. My friends, Laura and Sarah, put together the most fun evening. Unfortunatly, my evening was cut short due to a sick kiddo, (yes its going around here like wildfire) but I did get to be there and check everything out...and eat too! :)

The idea of the party was for everyone to make a Pinterest project and then bring it to share and giveaway. We also brought an Pinterest inspired appetizer for the evening too.

First off here are the gift bags, I didn't get a picture close up, but the gift bags say, "I actually made something I pinned on Pinterest." Cute!

Here are the decorations and some of the food...

And the most amazing Sangria...with super cute little mason jar glasses. Sarah used the top part of the mason jar lid for coasters and wrote our names on the lids. Such a good idea!

I wish I would have had time to get pics of all the projects, but I do have a pic of the project I got to take home....

These are my friends Liz and Tris. Tris made this scarf hanger but she even had "prototypes". LOL! All this is is hangers and shower curtain rings! You can see the original site HERE.

Here is the project I found on Pinterest....

Handmade Sugar Scrub. I should actually call it a handwashing scrub because it has dawn Dish soap in in. But it's the kind with Oil of Olay, so when you are done using it....your hands feel AMAZING!

The best part? Its just sugar and Dawn Dish Soap. SO insanely easy to make and mass produce. You can find the original idea HERE. (Amy has such a fun blog! Lots of cute ideas!) I made the label using a Martha Stewart Kraft Label and then the stamps from Al Naturel Extras from Clear and Simple. OH and that jar is from Hobby Lobby! This is really an expensive gift or party favor!

I would highly recommend having a Pinterest Party! It's such a fun time with friends and its even more fun to actually make something we've pinned! :)

Thanks for coming by today!

1/29/13

Love Notes

I have some fun little CSS Love Notes to share today. I've used some new goodies from Collection 6.

The envelopes and cards are from Mini Tri-Fold 2. I stamped the lines on the cards and the decorations on the front of the envelops from the new Airmail set....a must have!! The hearts are from a fabulous die set called, Shapes: Hearts. (Really another must have! This set has 6 different sizes of hearts and it is such a fun heart shape!)

Using the heart dies, I cut out dies from the Martha Stewart Kraft labels.

I decorated the front of the mailbox with the Heart Dies and a fun image from the Airmail set, as well.

Check out the rest of the girls and the Love Notes they have created. Thanks for stopping in today!

Kim Duran

Elena Roussakis

Audrey Tokach

Lori Tecler

Tracy Schultz

Laura Bassen

CSS

1/27/13

AE Hello...

I saw that Avery Elle had another challenge up and I had to play along! When I saw the inspiration picture, I realized they were my favorite colors to use so I couldn't NOT play along! First off, here is my card...

(Out for Publication!) :)

I used the name tag stamp from the Hello set, stamping it in black ink and the coloring in the "you are" with black as well. I used another stamp from Lots of Love and was thrilled when I found it fit just perfectly inside the name tag. I added to a piece of striped paper and I decided to put the stripes on the diagonal because of the idea of rain from this picture....

I added it all to a gray card base and then couldn't resist a little wood heart to finish it off. I can't wait to see what you think! Thanks for dropping by today! :)

1/26/13

hey, girlfriend...

Hey there! It's time for this week's installment of Retro Sketches! I got my SSS kit in the mail this week and had to dive right in! Here is my card for this week....

Everything you see here is from the SSS kit. I stamped the flower on the white card stock and then used some Pebbles chalks for the coloring. I added in 3 strips of paper for the background element. I added in a wood heart that came in the kit....LOVE. And the sentiment is 2 combined, from the set included.

Here is the sketch....

After I completed my card and uploaded it to our gallery, I realized that I missed the element on the bottom right. Oops. Creative license right? :)

I hope you get to play along this week! Go check out the DT cards and link up your own! Thanks for stopping in!

1/25/13

Happy Mail for Grayson Card Drive

Just before Thanksgiving, Danielle from Neat and Tangled, heard news that a girl she went to high school with and her family had embarked on an incredibly difficult journey. They had discovered that their sweet little 2 year old boy, Grayson, had a tumor on his brain stem. Since then they have been on a roller coaster ride, and this is only part of the journey. Grayson will begin chemotherapy this month as the next stage of treatment. Through all of this, the family has stayed strong, hopeful, faithful and positive. And Grayson is a strong and spunky fighter :) Grayson's mom, Jackie, has a blog she keeps updated regularly, so you can get to know more about Grayson HERE.

Danielle wants to just light up Grayson's life with some serious happy mail! She talked to Jackie, and she informed her that Grayson and his brother love to get mail...and so, here we have the Happy Mail for Grayson Card Drive.

Grayson is super lucky to have a big brother, Aydan, who is 4 so make sure to send some awesome cards to him too! These boys love all things boy :) Rescue Bots, Geotracks, Angry Birds, Thomas the Train. Send these little men funny, happy, cards! We all know how much love goes into a handmade card, and even better how personalized they can be!"

Here is the important info:

The drive will run from January 21 - February 28
(If they arrive late because they are International that's okay too!)

Send them here:
Grayson Savery and/or Aydan Savery
c/o Danielle Walls
P.O. Box 5808
Wilmington, DE 19808

1/21/13

Party favor fun...

Check out these new party favor boxes from Clear and Simple. I'm in love! It's Group Project day, and I made a few boxes using some fun patterned paper that work either as party favors or even place settings.....

I personalized each box with a monogramed tag, using Alpha Engraved alphabet set and the new Mini Label Tags. I finished them off by tying the tags with a little sheer ribbon. Super easy to put together!

Inside, you will find 3 Ghirardelli Chocolates. They fit perfect! OH and the paper is double sided, so this inside is cute too! :)

Now wouldn't you love to have these at your party? You can find this amazing box die HERE.

A few other CSS girls have fun stuff to share today too! Here is a list of inspiration to check out!

Audrey Tokach
Lori Tecler
Dana Grothaus
CSS Blog

So glad you came by today!

1/19/13

Be Mine...

**Scroll down for some CSS goodness!**

Hey there! I am here super late today! I thought the stomach bug had left our house, but it hit again last night! Poor kiddos. Luckily, they are a little better this afternoon and are even outside for a little bit. It is GORGEOUS here for January! It make me want Spring to get here. Like now.

So here is my Retro Sketches card for today...

So I used some PTI goodies for this card. The stamps are all from With All my Heart and then I had to dust of that sheet music embossing plate.

Here is this week's sketch...

The original card is from Jen and you can check it out HERE. She is an amazing card maker! You will have to go check it out!

The other girls already have their cards up today but you can play along over at the Retro Sketches blog. Thanks for stopping in today!

In love...

Yep, that's right! I'm in love with todays' release from Clear and Simple. There is a new stamp set called Airmail...it's pretty fabulous. I have some random projects here to share and then you must go and check out the other DT creations. They are fabulous! I will add in their links at the bottom of this post.

First off, a little set of tags....

I stamped 2 of the new images in the background of each tag and then added in the hearts and their die cut middles, to each tag.

Then, or course, I had to top them off with a silver pearl.

These will be fun tags to put in my kids Valentine mailbox. I'm going to share those here soon too! :)

I have one more card to share using another of the background in the Airmail set.

I layered up this image in a rainbow pattern for a CAS birthday card. The sentiment is from A Guy Thing. That cute little pin image is from this new Airmail set too!

So that's all I have for today! Don't forget to go and peek at these links below. These girls have some amazing things to share!

Elena Roussakis
Audrey Tokach
Kim Duran
Lori Tecler
Laura Bassen
Tracy Schultz
Dana Grothaus
CSS Blog

Have a great Saturday!

1/17/13

Wooden Valentine...

I've been so inspired by all the wood veneers I've seen lately. I realized that in my Stamping Royalty box a couple years ago, I got some wood hearts from Studio Calico. Now that I have seen them around, I was so excited to find these and pull them out for this Clear and Simple meets Studio Calico card...

I stamped the wood background from CSS's Background Basics 1. I love this stamp because the long edges are finished and I thought it looked fun in just one strip. (At the same time it is so easy to make a full background with this image.) Then I added in an SC sentiment from a class kit I got recently. I taped down the heart with ATG. It's nice because the clear tape rolls off the edges and you can't see it peaking out on the card front. I stamped a tiny little "love" from a CSS sentiment...fit perfectly on the veneer. The I had to finish it off with 2 silver pearls. My card front is 4 x 5 1/4" and I popped that up on foam tape on the card base. I'm thinking this might get mass produced. Easy and so fun!

I am off today, so I have lots of DT stuff to catch up on and also...should be cleaning the house. We've had a touch of the stomach bug, so I like to go all Lysol crazy when this happens. :)

Have you seen the CAS-ual Fridays release this week? Check out the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog to see everything that is coming out! Fun!!

Alright, time to go play trains with B. He is standing here asking so sweet and how can I say no to him? :) Have a great day!

1/15/13

Casual Elegance

Hey there! I have a couple cards to share today for the new CAS-ual Fridays release! Today's set is called Casual Elegance and it is full of amazing sentiments and gorgeous leaves.

Here is my first card...

For this first card, I stamped everything in PTI's Fresh Snow ink and the colored in the petals and leaves with Copics. I ran it through with the Linen impression plate for some texture and then added in some pearls to finish it off.

One more card...

I embossed the leaves in white embossing powder and then added in some distress inks. I added the panel to the white card front and then popped that up with foam tape. A little twine and a fun sentiment and that's it!

I know there is much more to see over at the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog. Stop over at see what the other girls have cooked up for today!

Thanks for coming by!

1/14/13

Muse..

I'm here with some fun news today. There is a new challenge blog coming your way very soon. Jackie has created a new card making club that you won't want to miss! It's called Muse.

First thing you will want to do is head over to the Muse blog to read all about it. Then grab your Muse badge and watch for a new post coming up soon from a fabulous guest designer. And then get ready to play along!

Have a great Monday!

1/12/13

Retro Sketches

This is my second post today! Scroll down for a Clear and Simple stamps post!

Today's sketch is a retake of one of my cards. I love this simple sketch. Here is my take 2....

I used some CSS goodies for this card. The Medallions are from a new set released today. I stamped some Quotes II in the background and then layered up some coordinating colors. I finished it off with a sentiment from CSS's Flowers set.

Here is this week's sketch...

Check out what the rest of the DT has for you today by clicking HERE! And I hope you get a chance to play along! Thanks for stopping by!

1/11/13

Monogrammed Card Set...

Today the Clear and Simple DT is showcasing the items for Week 2 of the Collection 6 release. I have a fun little embossed and monogrammed card set to share...with lots of pics! :) I am also posting a link to each new card stock color, below each card.

Rouge Ruffles

Coral Necklace

In the Limelight

Party Teal Dawn

I heat embossed with clear powder using one of the new medallions in the Medallion 2 set. I made a set of 4 and the added some matching envelopes. (Wait till you see all the images in both new Medallion sets!)