Craft Mode & Pumpkin!

HI there! :)
Yup, I'm still here...just busy.

I'm preparing to be in a local Craft Show...trying to get the "business" needs (bags, business cards, etc) done as well as crafting. Sometimes feels like not a whole lot is getting done, though, as I've had other commitments keeping me busy as well.

Anywho...last week (when I wasn't as busy), I made some yummy cookies, and shared the picture and link to recipie with my FB friends...but didn't think to do it here!

It's Fall. That means pumpkins. Oh, and chocolate chips too, right? ;-)



They were a hit. :)
(pardon the bad quality phone pic)










So now I s'pose you want the recipe for these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Go to my super-talented friend's blogpost here. You'll want to take a look-see around the place while enjoying your cookies & milk. She not only has the gift of creativity, but a great gift of words, too. :)

Enjoy! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

Mending & A Gift

I have to tell you...this week is starting off *much* better than last, and it feels oh, so GOOD. :)

You see, last week was umm....a bummer of a week (to put it mildly). Our Bible Study prayed for me Friday night (& beyond), and I started to feel a healing in my heart through the weekend.

This morning, as the girls are off to school and I am sorting laundry, I find myself prayerful and reflective. My daughter's new shirt (accidentally torn yesterday), begs mending. It wasn't part of my plan today, but it was a part of God's plan. ;-)  Since I always wash the darks first, it means a quick mending before washing. I see now that it was God's timing, His prompting. (I never get around to mending that quickly - it usually sits waiting for um...an embarrassing amount of time, lol)

So, I hauled out the sewing machine and respective supplies, and popped a CD into the player. I start the mending, and after some time, as my heart is soaring, I realize:

While my daughter's shirt is being mended by my hands, my heart is being mended by God's hands!

The music is speaking to my soul, and this beautiful word picture is speaking to me.  It is a gift from God, and I am so grateful. Are those problems still there? Yes, some of them are...but with this newly mended heart I feel like He & I can deal with them better now. :)

Soooo....God has given me a gift this morning and I wanted to share that with you. :)

Speaking of gifts, I have another gift to share...one that I made for someone a few weeks ago:

Simple, yet stated. Would you like to see closeups of what the gifts are? Ok. :)

This is a Post-It holder, and I just love the texture on the cover!  I acheived this look by running the cardstock through my Big Shot, with our new (Holiday Mini) embossing folder, SnowBurst.

The personalized "L" part was created with our stamp set Lovely Letters, and mounted on our circle and scallop circle punches. Finished it off wth our Pear Pizzazz Stitched-Poly ribbon! 

Yes, another nugget box. ;-)  As you can see, I am loving to use the set "It's A Wrap Occasions" on Hershey Nuggets. :)  The belly band (which stays on the sleeve) is created with our Lace Ribbon Border punch, Postage Stamp punch, and 1" Square punch. The stamp set used for the "Thank U" part is from a retired Hostess set, called Cute By The Inch.


Well, what do you think?

PS - The issues last week are not marital - hubby and I are great! :)
PPS - The CD I was speaking of is THIS one...22 songs in all (most are medleys, so you only see the name of the first song of the medley)

Thank you for letting me share with you today, and....
Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

Spice Cake, Anyone?

If you're here for a peek at Spice Cake, you're in the right place!
If you're here for Spice Cake that goes in the oven...sorry. ;-)

I'm talking about a gift set I recently made with our "Spice Cake" designer paper! :)
Hee hee

I've been wanting to share this for a LONG time, but had to wait until the recipient received it! :)

Sorry bout the shiny glare on the pic. Kinda hard to get a good pic with this plastic case.

What plastic case, you say? Well, it's our Clear-mount Storage Case!! I've prettied it up with the Spice Cake designer paper (Holiday Mini), punches, and purrrty Pool Party ribbon. :)

I made a matching pen (see bottom), magnet (Fun Flowers die), a little box with treat inside, and matching thank you card.

Want to see inside the case? Ok. :)

It's a mini legal pad cut down a bit and a bit of pizzazz added with Spice Cake designer paper at the top! :)












Want to see inside the little gift box? Ok. :)

I made the gift box with our Soft Suede cardstock &  Spice Cake designer paper!

Stamp sets used:
Inside - It's A Wrap Occasions
Tag - Cute By The Inch

I made the tag by coloring the stamp with my markers, stamping onto Very Vanilla cardstock, then punching it out with our new 1" square punch (Holiday Mini)! I added a layer of Pool Party cardstock behind that, and a final layer of Soft Suede cardstock punched with our Postage Stamp punch. Tied it to the box sleeve with our new Early Espresso Baker's Twine.

Finally, the magnet is made by cutting layers of Spice Cake dp and Soft Suede cardstock with our Fun Flowers die and my Sizzix Big Shot. The middle is one of our Neutrals Buttons with the Early Espresso Baker's Twine tied to it. :)

On the thank you card, I used the set Easy Events, and continued the theme of Soft Suede and Spice Cake. :)




Well, what do you think? I'd love to hear from you!  :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

Cookies and FREE Stuff?!!

I have SOOOO much good to share with you today! :)

FIRST:
What could be better than stamping and cookies?  How about Stamping on cookies? :)

Brand NEW starting Oct 1st (yesterday), Stampin'Up! has these adorable cookie stamps!
Click HERE to view and order yours today!

**(The cookie stamps come with the wooden handle and 3 different designs of stamps PLUS 2 cookie recipes~ for $16.95 + S&H).**
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Cookies stamps not enough?  Well, how about FREE STAMPS?

Starting Oct 1st, when you purchase (2) Simply Sent Kits (pgs 192-193 in Big Idea Book & catalog) you get a Coordinating Stamp set for FREE!

The Coordinating Stamp set/s are listed below each Simply Sent kits

Click HERE for flyer.









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Cookie stamps & FREE STAMPS not enough?  Well...what about a...

FREE BIG SHOT!!

Oye. I *heart* my Big Shot. Wish I could've gotten it for FREE! lol

Starting today Oct 1, 2011 through Oct 31, 2011 anyone who signs up to be a Stampin'Up! Demonstrator will get a FREE Big Shot or You can pick $100.00 worth of products from Stampin'Up!

Click HERE for flyer.

Click HERE for more details on joining the Stampin'Up! Family.


Please contact me if you have any questions...there's a list of information I should have you look over before signing up. :)

Okay, and if all that weren't enough...SU has added products to the CLEARANCE RACK (including some Holiday product)!!

WOW. October's a GREAT month! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crysta

Matchy-Matchy Gift

I've had the privilege of a friendship with a super-sweet gal since 7th grade (about 20 years - yes, I'll let you do the math - wink). Much to my dismay, she moved across the country after we graduated High School. :(  We have kept up the friendship over the years, and to say I am grateful is a bit of an understatement. ;-)  Sometimes we're good about staying in touch, sometimes not. But we always know that friendship is there. Through thick and thin. :)

I had purchased a little something for her birthday...a little pick me up for each day. But that just didn't seem like enough. So, I made an ensemble out of it. A few little "extra" things to add to the gift I purchased. I love dressing up ordinary things to make them more fun (matchy-matchy). Hee hee...

I was thrilled to find a retired designer paper in my hoarded supply (wink) which matched nicely - Raspberry Suite!  I covered a mini comp book with it, added some retired cardstock to the edge (Apricot Appeal), and then some white taffeta ribbon to top it off. Made a pen to match, and...wait...what's in that little box??

CHOCOLATE, of course! What's a gift without chocolate?? ;-)

I used the same retired dp and cardstock on this little gift, but I also used some NEW items!! :)  The birthday tag is a stamp from the Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess) set. I *heart* that set! :) On the inside, you'll see some Hershey's Nuggets with a stamped wrapper!  When I saw the catalog for the first time, I labeled this It's A Wrap Occasions stamp set a must-have. :)  Oh, and guess what?! They've came out with another label set, the one in the mini catalog is called It's A Wrap Holidays! What fun! :)

Last on my agenda was a matching card...and I'm not that excited about how this one turned out. I was just having trouble, for some reason. But I used a new stamp set (Easy Events), AND it matches (cue singing angels)! lol :)

If you look closely, there's a bit of *sparkle* on the frosting - NEW - Dazzling Details (Holiday Mini)!  Oh, and the cherry on top? A CropADile punch, with crystal effects added to make it shiny. Stem and leaf were handdrawn. :)

Also used in these projects: Whisper White cardstock, Scallop Circle punch, 1 3/8" & 1 1/4" Circle punches, Scallop Edge punch, White grosgrain ribbon, Ink pad lids, Aquapainter

WHEW! Well, I think that's all...what do you think? Would *love* to hear from you! :) 

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

All The Little Things

I completed a challenge!!! WOO HOO!!
Do you know how long it's been since I've participated in a stamping challenge??
Me either. ;-)

It's great for gettin' those juices flowing again. :)

The challenge at SCS is called Free For All, and the title was "Acknowledgement." Think on the last 5 days...is there someone you could thank? Make a card for them and give it to them within 48 hours of making the card!

This is such a great challenge for me! I often think of making people a card, to say thank you, or hello, or whatever...but then I get busy, time goes by, and the moment has passed. :(

I knew I wanted to use a certain stamp and a certain designer paper, and I really really like how it turned out! Thinking about making more to sell on Etsy! :)

I used the new designer paper Spice Cake from the Holiday mini!! LOVE that stuff - perfect for Autumn, or really...any time of the year! :)

I inked the stamp from Full of Life with my More Mustard and Soft Suede markers.




Also used are Soft Suede, More Mustard, Pool Party, and Very Vanilla cardstock!  The Soft Suede taffeta ribbon was the perfect final touch, don't you think? ;-)

The sentiment panel is up on dimensionals, of course. ;-)

Well, what do you think? Would *love* to hear from you! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

Lost & Found

Ever lost something and found it years later?
Back when I was about 14, I lost my wallet.

I was as devastated as a 14 year old can be. The wallet itself was an 8th Grade Graduation gift, and I mean...who knows if there was money in there or not...but what about everything else? You know, all those pics I traded with classmates??? I mean, THAT is important, lol! ;-)

Well, nearly 20 years later...my parents were cleaning out the attic and found this:

What was once was lost...now is FOUND! :)

They put it in a box with a bunch of other stuff that was supposedly mine (wink), didn't tell me it was in there, and one day as I waded through each and every item...there it was!

Boy, was it a blast from the past!! lol

Yup, classmate pics were there, as well as 2 group pics of my friends and I taken in 8th Grade...I'm trying to figure out a way to share it with those friends on Facebook, without the whole world seeing it (in a private message) - anyone know how to do that?

Anyways...back to the subject at hand. I found other little treasures, too:

Shall we play "I Spy?" in this pile of stuff? lol

I wonder what DQ would do if I walked up to the counter with one of those tokens? lol

Oh, and there WAS a $10 bill, and a bunch of change too - score! :)

Have you lost something and found it years later?  If you haven't....you might want to go search your attic! ;-)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great day! :)
Crystal