I’ve been Awarded…

What a fun and sweet surprise! I’m SO honored! Sarah Webb, a very talented Pebbles DT Member and fellow Pretty Little Studio DT Member, has nominated me for this:

THANKS, SARAH!

Liebster is German and means ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’ but it can also mean ‘favorite’. The idea of the Liebster award is to bring attention to blogs with less than 200 followers. So, in the spirit of good fun I am passing this award on to five other bloggers. Please stop by and visit them!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope you all have a Love-Filled and Fun-Filled Valentine’s Day!

I thought today would be the perfect day to share this exciting news with you just in case you have not seen it in the Jan/Feb 2012 Issue of Creating Keepsakes Magazine. I was SO surprised and thrilled when I found out last August from Erin Weed (Online Editor of Creating Keepsakes Magazine) that my layout, 21 Valentines, won the Readers’ Pick Poll on the Creating Keepsakes Blog. I had no idea that I was even in this contest, so you can imagine my shock when I read the email. This is my first time published in CK Magazine!

When I first saw Caitie’s face as she opened her Kindergarten Valentine’s Day Decorated Shoebox, she was just so excited and happy that I knew I had to make a special keepsake LO for her treasured valentines. She took her time looking through and reading each and every card and opening her presents. She is so sweet! Since most of the valentines were so small, I had plenty of room to sew the envelope right onto my background paper.

My favorite part of this LO…Caitie wrote her name on the ticket in her prettiest handwriting for me.

I used my Black Zig Writer Pen to add heart doodles along with my journaling.

Supplies I used to make my “21 Valentines” Layout:

The Stella & Rose Collection by My Mind’s Eye:  Mother Ledger 12 x 12 Patterned Paper, Lovely Bouquet 12 x 12 Die-Cut Paper, Delightful Trims, patterned paper, and decorative brads.

Letter Stickers:  Cinnamon Pomegranate Foil Thicker Stickers by American Crafts

Punches:  Apron Lace Border Punch by Fiskars, 1″ Sunburst Punch by Martha Stewart Crafts, and Giga Scalloped Circle Clever Lever Craft Punch by Marvy Uchida

Spray Inks:  Starfish and Tattered Rose Glimmer Mists by Tattered Angels

Others:  Black Zig Writer Pen, Heart Paper Doilies (CC-302) by Little Yellow Bicycle, Valentines Printed Ticket by Jenni Bowlin, scallop edge scissors by Fiskars, Square Foam Tabs by American Crafts, Mini and Memory Book Glue Dots, “friends” and “thank you” rub-ons (Wholy Cow rub-on transfers) by Basic Grey, Workable Fixatif Spray by Krylon, white vellum envelope, black velcro square, scissors, blue thread and needle, pink thread and sewing machine, and Caitie’s Kindergarten Valentines

The envelope on my “21 Valentines” layout was inspired by Dear Lizzy. Ever since I saw this decorated envelope on her blog, I have been making lots of them ever since. Don’t let it scare you. It’s a lot easier to make than it looks. When I first saw her envelope, I thought it would be such a fun and different way to hold my sisters’ Baby Shower Invitation. I just had to give it a try. I didn’t know where to start. So, I studied the photo and decided to follow it. I have to admit I was scared to try this, because I wasn’t sure how to work with vellum without ripping it. I found out, though, it was pretty easy and so much fun! Here is the envelope I made with the pretty butterfly-themed invitation I ordered from www.storkie.com:

Then, I made a decorated envelope for the Baby Shower Bingo Game Card…

The Bingo Game Card was easy for me to make. I did not create it with my Photoshop program…I took a more hands-on approach. I started with a 5 inches x 7 inches cut piece of butterfly patterned paper. Next, I added scalloped squares that I punched out of white cardstock with one butterfly in the center that I cut from the butterfly patterned paper. I scanned the sheet with my printer and brought it over to my word document. I added the words using the matching font from the invitation plus another font for the BINGO word and lined everything up. When I was happy with the way it all looked, I printed off 50 bingo game cards. Ready to go to the Baby Shower along with a box of pens. This was super fun to make and it didn’t even bother me that my hubby teased me about how perfectly everything lined up. I thanked him for the compliment. I loved the way this turned out! You can make these for your parties, too. All you need is your themed paper, a square punch (I think the scalloped square punch is prettier) with white cardstock, computer, printer/scanner…and you are set to go.