Super Bowl Update

Krispie pops are a family tradition for us. We make them for birthdays and every holiday. Here's how I make the pumpkin version. At the end, I'll show you some other examples.

• You will need: packaged Rice Krispie Treats
• Melting chocolates
• popsicle sticks
• glass bowl
• zip bag
• metal spoon
• scissors
• cookie sheet covered with wax or parchment paper

Step 1: Unwrap pops and insert popsicle sticks.

Step 2: Melt base color chocolate according to directions on package. Spread onto Krispie top with the back of the spoon.

Step 3: Spoon accent color chocolate into zip back. Seal and cut tip of corner.

Step 4: Decorate by squeezing chocolate onto pop once the base color is cool.

Let cool and place laying down or stick into styrophome.

We make Santas, snowmen, presents, and gingerbread Men for Christmas. Devils, pumpkins, ghosts, pirates, Frankenstein, and Dracula for Halloween.

You'll need:

• 25 7/8" x 1 1/4" strips of brown paper (not cardstock)
• Adhesive
• Double-faced satin ribbon
• Stickles or glitter
• Patterned Cardstock
• A thin strip of the brown paper, 1 1/4" long, cut with a slight angle. See the bottom of the picture on the left

Step 1:

Fold back the corners of all of the 25 strips of brown paper. See picture at left.

Step 2:

Apply a strip of adhesive to the back of the folded strips. Starting 1" from the bottom of the patterned cardstock, begin layering the folded strips like the picture to the right. Remember that the pinecone will look more natural if the strips are not placed perfectly symmetrical.

Continue layering your strips. You are aiming for something like an egg shape. You may need to angle some of your strips towards the center and fold back the top outside corners of the strips to create the desired shape.

Step 3:

When you get to the top, adhere the thin strip in the center. See picture on the left. Then, cover up the bottom of the thin strip with a folded strip. Tie ribbon into a bow and adhere.

Finish card by stamping sentiment on bottom right of card front and adhere cardfront to folded card. Apply Stickles to the tips of some of the folded strips.

Credits:

"Hoping your Christmas Season is Ever Green" stamp: My Sentiments Exactly!

Brown patterned paper: Leather Trunk from Sandylion Travel Company

Patterned background paper: Cosmo Cricket

Ribbon: ribbon store

Stickles

To make the poinsettia for the card, you need:

• scissors
• adhesive
• paper leaves
• 2 red die cut daisies (red patterned paper looks cool too)
• a little scrap from the red paper that's a bigger than the daisy center
• yellow or gold bling

First, using your scissors, cut the tips of each of the petals of ONE of the daisy die cuts. See the bottom petals of the picture to the left.

Then, take the second flower. About half-way down each petal, cut the petals into a point. See example. Now, fold each of the flower petals from both of the flowers toward you. Then, use your adhesive and layer first with your scrap piece, then your larger flower, then your smaller flower. The smaller flower petals should go between the larger. This will hide your scrap piece.

Finally, add your bling and adhere flower to card. Glue a couple paper leaves under the poinsettia. Here's my example:

Paper Leaves: Prima

Sentiment: Hero Arts ClearDesigns mounted on K and Co paper

Cardstock: Bazzill

Background Paper: Cosmo Cricket

Ink: StaZon

Bling: Me And My Big Ideas Icons

I wanted to do something different than the usual fold on this one. So, it is like a postcard with the star unfolding to leave room for a sentiment or personal note. The Santa stamp is from Hero Arts ClearDesigns. The yellow polka dot and the blue swirly paper are from Creative Imaginations. The navy cardstock is Prism. I'm also not a big Santa fan but I thought this stamp really worked with the star theme. There's lots of sparkle in real life.

Julie informed me that today is Blog Action Day. It's a day for bloggers to do something for the environment. So, I compiled a list for you of some things about me that are enviornmentally friendly.

Top 5 things that I do for the environment:

1. I use a laundry line. Seriously, I think I'm the only person in OC that hangs my clothes to dry, but it totally makes since here since it's usually sunny.

2. I am a garage sale shopper. I bought the chandelier on the left at a garage sale for a dollar. It was super ugly. So, I took it home, spray painted it with wrought iron paint, added bulbs and voila.

3. I don't eat mammals. I guess the other word for it would be octolactofishotarian. I don't know. We grew up not eating red meat in my family. When I was 18 I dropped the birds from my diet too. So, I'm left with fish, eggs and milk products.

4. I recycle. Our city just started a program where we have different containers for trash, green waste and recyclables. Since I'm in charge of taking out the trash in my family, I've become keenly aware of where we can improve.

5. I don't drink coffee. When I lived in Hawaii , I saw first-hand the deforestation of the island in order to satiate the growing coffee market. Although coffee can be grown within forests with little impact to the forest habitat, far too often the forests are destroyed to make room for coffee fields. This is happening world-wide.

Okay, that's my top 5. Do you do anything special for the environment. I'd love to know. Please leave me a comment.

This is the card that I made for Connie's Twopeas Stamptoberfest challenge to repurpose a stamp for Christmas. I chose the Lockhart stamp company tea set stamp and made it Christmassy by adding a red gingerbread man (Papertreyink Holiday Treats) and by coloring with Christmas color prismacolor pencils. The sentiment is also Papertreyink.

Last night was ladies night at church. Besides eating desserts (I made pumpkin tiramisu), we made these amazing 12 x 12 tiles. I made this one for my bff. I know she will love this scripture and the travertine tile I chose for her. This was the easiest project ever, just peel off the backing from the sticker sheet and apply to the tile. The sticker sheet is from Missionary Stickers.  Maria custom makes stickers in several sizes, fonts and colors. You can put them on your wall, a wooden plaque, whatever.

You'll need: Scissors, tape runner or double stick tape, stiff ribbon (fabric or seam binding 7/8 or 1 inch), card base and a cardstock mat for your image.

Cut a 3 inch piece of the ribbon and tape it to the cardstock mat.

Add adhesive to the ribbon starting 1/4 inch down from the top of the cardstock piece. Continue to run your adhesive 1/2 inch past the bottom of the ribbon (about 1 1/2 inches down from the top or the cardstock. Loop the ribbon over itself and adhere. This is the trickiest part. You want the loop above the cardstock to be slightly smaller than the width of your ribbon. You can test it by turning your cardstock piece over and laying your ribbon horizontally behind it.

Cover cardstock piece with adhesive, especially the part of the ribbon that covers the cardstock. (Don't put adhesive on the ribbon where it is above the cardstock piece.) Cut another strip of ribbon, about 2 1/2 inches long.

Mount your cardstock piece to your card base. Push your ribbon strip into the loop and center it.

Embellish your card and you are done! See my other example here.Please give it a try and post a link to your creation. I'd love to see it.

Card base: Kaiser Card, Tree square, 3 circles and sentiment stickers: Creative Imaginations Tree Stamp: Papertreyink holiday treats Ribbon: fabric store Blue Cardstock: Prism

I created this card for two WCMD challenges. First, Tami's sheet music challenge. Second, Kathi's slide mount challenge. I used Ave Maria sheet music with inked edges, Prism black cardstock, a toile slidemount I've had in my stash for ages, Hobby Lobby ribbon that I threaded through holes I punched through the plastic slide mount (I love my Cropadile!) and stamped the SU sentiment on a little unprinted piece of the sheet music.

Last week, Pam posted the cutest pumpkin card. She used the pumpkin card template from the Stamp Shack and machine stitched it. So, this is my version. I added the leaf because I wanted a sentiment on the front. My stitching is faux.

Patterned papers: Ooo Baby! My Baby! from The Paper Lady and Green Wilderness from Sandylion

Orange cardstock: Prism

Marker: Lumocolor brown and Marvey Posh green marker for the sentiment

So blessed (outside) So thankful (inside) stamp: Hero Arts Clear Design