Little House Gift Box with Tag

Hello Stampin' Friends!

So here is the gift I made for the LNS Gift Exchange for Convention 2012.  I made a second one for the SUDSOL Gift Exchange that took place on Friday afternoon at Lunch in the Gathering Place.  The House was the same, the contents I put in the box was different.

This is the outside of house. The opposite side just has a window and the trim, and the other 2 sides just have trim.

Inside of house. One side of roof is stationary and the other lifts up to reveal contents of box.

This is the tag, which is just hanging around the chimney.

SU! Supplies Used

Stamps - Friendly Phrases

CS - Crumb Cake, Early Espresso

DSP - Comfort Cafe

Inks - Crumb Cake, Early Espresso

Punches - Scallop Edge, Extra Large Tag, Hand

Buttons - Natural Designer Button

Brad - 3/16" Neutral Brad

Thread - Linen Thread

Misc - Sticky Tape, Dimensionals, Exacto Knife, Glue Dots, Dauber

This house turned out really cute.  And everyone who saw it in person seemed to love it.  I made some little packets of chocolates using our cello bags and made a topper for it to match.  I also included a package of the new slides for the ribbon.  The ladies who ended up with them seemed very pleased that they were the winners of this little house.

I am working on the tutorial for this, along with a video.  So check back soon for both of those items.

Hope you enjoy!

Owl Gift Bag

Hello Stampin' Friends!

Well today I'm sharing a project I made for the Late Night Stampers (LNS) Gift Exchange.  Let me tell you that we had sooooooooo much fun with this gift exchange!!

So, we were to make a project from current Stampin' Up supplies and then put it in a gift bag that had an owl on the front.  The owl is our group mascot.  Our gift was suppose to be no more than $10.

Let me say that the day that we did the gift exchange had been a long one.  We had been at Stamp Camp from 8am-1pm, then we had lunch from 1pm-2pm, then we did a 3D Shoebox Swap from 2pm to 4pm, we had a break for dinner from 4pm-7pm which some of us didn't get the whole time because we ran late with our shoebox swap due to the difficulty of our projects, plus we are starting to wear a little thin (tired).  So then we met back to do a WOW demonstration that was from 7pm-9pm.  Then once everything finished up with that all of us that were participating in the Gift Exchange had to place their bag on a table and grab a chair and have a seat in a circle.  I think if I remember right we ended up with 15 players.

So, here is what transpired next........remember we have all been working very hard ALL DAY, and it is now about 9:30pm or 9:45pm.

Ok, so Sherrill (our fearless leader) makes these numbers and puts them in a container for us each to draw a number for our place in line for picking our gift.  Everyone takes a number, and some are more excited about their numbers then others, and the reason being that is this.............we start with 1 and the person with #1 gets to go pick a gift bag first.  They open it and share what they received.  Most try and down play what it is, because.............this is a "steal your gift type of exchange"!!!  Meaning that the person with #2 can either get a new gift bag or go and take the gift bag from #1 person.  But see there are limits on how many times you can "steal" a gift.  A gift can only be taken 3 times and then it's "frozen" and cannot be stolen anymore.  And the reason why some got so excited over their numbers is because the person with #1 gets to choose first and goes again last.  The other great number is to be #15, because you get to go last and choose from most everything as long as it's not frozen.  And everyone gets a chance to "steal" or get a gift off of the table.

So you can only imagine how silly this game became because we were all so tired from the days events and now we are "stealing" from each other, or trying to keep others from stealing from us.  It was so crazy, but sooooooo much fun!!!  A couple of times we were laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.  We will never forget the fun time we had that night!! (even if someone did steal from another person several times in a row......sorry!)   :o)

Anyway, here is the Gift Bag I made for this fun game!

I will post the gift that was inside in my next post with all the details!!

If you didn't get to join the LNS group this year at convention, you got to check it out next year!!  We have a great time making projects, winning prizes, and doing fun things like stealing gift bags....LOL!  Really, we have an awesome time and we would love to have you join us next year at Stampin' Up's 25th Anniversary Convention 2013!  Check out our group by visiting this LINK.

Strawberry Trifle Recipe Page

Hello Stampin' Friends!

I took a day off from posting to get some things done around the house and a few errands as well.  So now I'm back to posting a few things each day.

Today I have a scrapbook page that I did for the Late Night Stampers (LNS) Recipe Swap.  We did this swap the Sunday before Convention 2012.  I will post all of the great swaps I received once I get some of my other things posted.  So you will get to see them a little later.


I call this - Strawberry Trifle Recipe Page

SU! Supplies Used
Stamps - Fruits & Flowers
CS - Regal Rose, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
DSP - Brights Collection
Inks - Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Regal Rose
Markers - Real Red, Old Olive
Punches - Scallop Square, Itty Bitty Shapes
Bigz Dies - Tasteful Trim
Ribbon - 1/8" Taffeta - Daffodil Delight
Jewels - Basic Pearls
Misc - Big Shot, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

I really like the way this page turned out.  It is a 6x6 page that can be put on a 8x8 piece of CS and then placed into one of our 8x8 Binders.  That is what I plan on doing with all of the great pages I received from the LNS Recipe Swap.  This is a wonderful recipe for Strawberry Trifle, and it's really easy to make too.

For those that are interested here is the Strawberry Trifle Recipe.

Strawberry Trifle - Serves 12-15

Ingredients

14 oz. Angel Food Cake or Sara Lee Pound Cake, divided
18 oz. Strawberry Preserves, divided
3 cups Fresh Sliced Strawberries, Blueberries, Raspberries &/or Blackberries
2 pkgs. (3.5 oz.) Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
2 cups Milk
8 oz. Sour Cream (I use light sour cream)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
8 oz. Whipped Topping (I use a light cool whip)
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts &/or 1/4 cup grated Chocolate (I like using sliced almonds)

Preparation

• Slice half of Angel Food Cake or Pound Cake into 1/2-inch cubes; line bottom of trifle bowl with cake.  Spread 1/2 or 1 cup of Strawberry Preserves over cake pieces.  Sprinkle 1/2 of the berry mixture on top of the preserves & cake. Save a few of the strawberries and other berries for the top of the trifle.
• Combine Instant Pudding Mix with Milk and beat until well blended; stir in Vanilla extract.  Fold in Sour Cream until well blended.  Next Fold in Whipped Topping until well blended.  Be sure to Fold and not stir vigorously.  You want a nice blended fluffy mixture.
• Pour half of pudding mixture on top of berry mixture in trifle bowl.  Cut the remaining Angel Food Cake or Pound Cake into cubes; spread with remaining preserves.  Add remaining berries.  Top with pudding mixture.
• Put saved strawberries and other berries on the top and then sprinkle with Chopped Nuts & Grated Chocolate.  
• Refrigerate for a couple hours before serving.
• Serve & Enjoy!!

Hope you enjoy the Recipe Layout & and the Strawberry Trifle Recipe!  If you do use the recipe please come back and post about it by leaving a comment.  Also you can direct others to my blog for the recipe if you like.

This usually ends up being a big huge favorite once you try it.  My hubby loves it and asks for it often.  This is such an easy recipe that I make it for my parties that I hold, or I take it when I have a potluck to go to.

Butterfly Birthday Card

Hello Stampin' Friends!

This is a card I did for the Late Night Stampers (LNS) card swap group.  This was a 80+1 card swap for SU! Convention 2012.  I'm still sorting through all my swaps and will be posting about the different swaps as soon as I have them all sorted and photographed, so be sure to check back and see what I received while I was at convention.

Anyway, onto what I made for the swap!

I call it - Butterfly Birthday

SU! Supplies Used
Stamps - Papillon Potpourri, Itty Bitty Banners, Flowering Flourishes
CS - Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple,
Inks - Raspberry Ripple, Pink Pirouette
Emboss Folder - Framed Tulips
Punches - Elegant Butterfly
Framelits - Itty Bitty Banners
Jewels - Basic Rhinestones
Misc - Dimensionals, Glue Dots

I really love the simplicity and elegance of this card.  I ran the card front through the Big Shot using the Framed Tulips embossing folder, then I added a layer of Raspberry Ripple CS on top of the card front.  I then took another piece of Whisper White CS and stamped the Flowering Flourishes in Pink Pirouette ink.  Then stamp 2 butterflies from the Papillon Potpourri on Whisper White CS in Raspberry Ripple ink.  Punch out those 2 butterflies using the Elegant Butterfly punch.  The 3rd smaller butterfly is stamped directly onto the piece that you stamped the flowering flourishes on.  I then stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment from the Itty Bitty Banners set onto Whisper White CS using Raspberry Ripple ink.  Using the Itty Bitty Banners Framelits I ran my stamped image through my Big Shot and cut out the sentiment.  Then I attached that and my butterflies to the front of the card and added the Rhinestone Jewels to give it a touch of bling. Now layer that piece on top of the Raspberry Ripple CS. Viola!

Hint** I find that if I use a post-it note to hold my framelit in place that it helps keep things the way I want them.  I've heard others use tape, but I have found that it is easier for me to use the post-it then to mess with tape.  If you have any other ideas I would love to hear them!!

Like I said, I really love the simplicity and elegance of this card.  So easy, yet so pretty!