Baby Thanks - à la Becky Higgins

Here is my version of Becky Higgins' Baby Cards, as seen in the Creating Keepsakes Gallery. Becky designed her precious card collection using her "Sweet Baby Kit of the Month." I loved the simple design and layout of Becky's cards, but decided to use supplies that I already had on hand. I believe that Becky also sewed her cards, while I used faux stitching on mine. Thanks for the inspiration Becky!

Supplies:

• Cardstock: white from The Paper Company & Halcraft
• Patterned Paper: Sky Bias Stripe & Olive Parlor Stripe from Scrapbook Walls collection by Chatter Box
• Accents: Butterbean Baby Boy dimensional sticker from Marcella line by K&Company
• Color Medium: Gel Xtreme - White pen by Y&C
• Fonts: Blackjack from Font Bros
• Tools: rounded corner punch from EK Success; Paper Edgers Deckle edge scissors by Fiskars; Serrated Tracing Wheel by Dritz

Finished Size 4" x 5.5"

Put Some Fiber in Your Diet!

Or, "Put Some Calories in Your Crafting"???

Hello Dear Readers! I've got a question for you... Do you love food and paper crafting? Well if you do (and I know I do!), then have I got a sneak peak for you!

It's Paper Crafts Gourmet! That's right! It's a cook book and a craft book! Two of my favorite things in one place! Now, you can't even purchase this book yet... it is only available for preorder... But using all my powers of persuasion and at great personal risk to myself, I managed to obtain an exclusive PC Gourmet project -- complete with recipe, supply list and instructions! (OK, if you want the truth -- PC asked me if I wanted to participate in their Gourmet Blog Tour, I said "Yes!" and they emailed the project to me. I wasn't even in danger of getting a paper cut...)

So here's your Sneak Peak Project... Designed by PC Pro Alisa Bangerter and just in time for Halloween!

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Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits
Alisa Bangerter

This is a perfect recipe to pull out if you are short on time because there is no rolling or cutting. The cheese and garlic add extra kick to a plain biscuit, and kids love them. They are the perfect accompaniment to serve with soups or stews, and are great served with a salad.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 c. flour
• 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2/3 c. butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese
• 1 1/4 c. milk
• Chives (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Mix together dry ingredients. Cut in butter with pastry cutter until mixture is fine. Add cheese and mix well. Add milk and stir until just moistened. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Sprinkle top with chopped dried or fresh chives if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for approx. 15 minutes.


Enjoy Halloween Tag
Designer: Alisa Bangerter
Finished size: 3" x 4 1/2"

SUPPLIES:
Cardstock: (ivory)
Dye ink: (Black) Stewart Superior Corp.; (Summer Sun) Stampin' Up!
Specialty ink: (Mango Lemonade color wash) Stewart Superior Corp.
Color medium: (black chalk) Craf-T Products
Accents: (black brads) Making Memories; (chipboard bat, moon) Melissa Frances
Fibers: (black striped ribbon) Pebbles Inc.
Font: (Black Family) www.dafont.com
Adhesive: (foam tape)

1 Make tag from cardstock. 2 Crumple tag and smooth out. Spray edges with color wash; let dry. Apply chalk. 3 Ink chipboard moon; let dry. Chalk edges and adhere. 4 Ink chipboard bat; let dry. Adhere with foam tape. 5 Print sentiment on cardstock; trim and tear edges. Chalk edges and adhere with foam tape. Attach brads. Attach ribbon with brad.

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Not enough, you say? You want more??? Then check out this link for eight (Count 'em ... EIGHT!) more complete projects! And don't say I never got you anything...

Put On Your Party Hat!

Here is the card that I designed for my niece who just turned five. My inspiration for this card came from the wrapping paper that I chose to use for one of her gifts. It including images of a cake, a present, and a party hat. I decided to create a card in the shape of the party hat.

I began by trimming my prefolded card in the shape of a hat, with the crease of the card on the left side of the hat. I then cut patterned paper to fit on the front of the card, trimming some of the paper with decorative edge scissors. I inked the edges of my patterned paper with a Sharpie, imitating the illustrative quality of my chosen graphic. I adhered the paper to the front of my card and accented it with a a chipboard number and a plastic flower which I attached using a flower brad.

Supplies:

• Cardstock: pink
• Patterned Paper: Tropical Colors Bitty Scrap Pads by Provo Craft
• Accents: plastic flowers by Greenhouse; watercolor brite flower brads by Making Memories; Nana's Nursery Diecut Chipboard Number by DCWV; Craft Essentials Birthday rub-ons from Jo-Ann Stores
• Color Medium: Sharpie black permanent marker by Sanford
• Adhesive: Mini adhesive dots by Glue Dots; Tape Runner XL by Therm O Web
• Tools: Paper Edgers decorative edge scissors - Scallop & Sunflower from Fiskars

Finished Size Approx. 4.5" x 5.75"

Safari Animal Curtain Tie Backs

Here is one of the projects that I recently completed for little Baby Sgro's room. (And just in time, since he is due the end of November!) They are tie backs for the gingham curtains in his room. And they were sooo easy to create! Since DH and I chose a Safari theme for the room, I picked out these cute wooden animals to decorate my tie backs from my local craft supply store.

Here are the quick and easy instructions:
Simply cut your ribbon to the appropriate length. Fold back the ends one inch. Adhere folded piece using fusible bonding web.

Cut pieces of Velcro strips and adhere to the ribbon ends following the manufacturer's instructions. (I cut my pieces to fit behind the wooden animals.) Make sure that you adhere the Velcro so that the ribbon forms a loop once it is closed.

Adhere the wooden animals to the front of the ribbon.

That's it! All done. And my local craft store had so many cute wooden shapes, that you're sure to find some to coordinate with your little bambino's room also!



Supplies:

• Accents: Painted Layered Animal Shapes by Provo Craft
• Fibers: ribbon from Michaels Stores
• Adhesive: Perfect Glue 1 by Liquid Nails; Stitch Witchery fusible bonding web by Dritz
• Tools: iron
• Other: heat activated hook & loop fasteners by Velcro

You're Invited...

Hello Dear Readers! Sorry I've been so MIA lately -- I've been busy preparing for little Baby Sgro's arrival. That includes designing decor for Baby's room (more on that in a later post) and my Baby Shower! Special thanks to Sue & Julie for a Great Event!

Speaking of Baby Showers... here is the invitation that my sister Suzanne and my best friend Julie created for the special occasion. They went with a Jungle Theme. Isn't it too cute?! And on the inside, there's an extra special three-dimensional surprise! Those blocks "pop up" from the card! I believe they use Lasting Impressions for Paper Embossing Templates on the animals.

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And speaking of Invitations... I just found out that TWO of my projects are going to be published in Scrapbook Trends magazine's Invitation Idea Book! Woo hoo! One my loyal readers will recognize... it's the 50th Anniversary card I designed for those two great couples. And the other is a cute Cookie Exchange Invite I created using a surprise element. Shhh... it's a secret for now...

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Edited to Add...

I also wanted to share with you a picture of the "Jungle Cake" that Julie and Sue created for my shower. Those are chocolate covered Oreos (YUM!) and pretzels (YUM x2!) with little plastic jungle creatures nestled among 'em. How creative and colorful!