More New Old Stuff - I know, I'm weird

This was a Valentine card I made for my hubby a few years ago. Even though it was done several years ago, I still love it and my hubby still keeps it in a special place. awwww!

 Here it is with one flap opened.

This is all the way opened. Pretty mushy stuff, huh?  ;^) 

This was done back in the days BEFORE die cutting machines, except for Accu-cuts and I'm sure Sizzix was out, but too costly for me at the time. This was done with the small scalloped edge scissors and all by hand, except the flowers. The little flowers were some pretty stickers that a dear friend sent to me in a care pkg. that her hubby found. How lucky am I to have such dear friends looking out for me?

Anyway, this technique is called Spirelli. You can do this technique using simple shapes that have edges with peaks and valleys. Here is a link to a video I found on YouTube that's pretty good.

** Spirelli Video

Hope you try this cool looking, but easy technique and send me a pic! It doesn't have to be just for Valentine's day, ya know. :^)

 
I'm linking up to the parties listed in the left sidebar, as well as these:

Some New Old Stuff

I'm just now posting some stuff I made last year, but it was because they were accepted for the Cricut Magazine publication and then I just forgot to mention them here after I had the all-clear.

It can be tough to keep track of what you've made, what you've posted, what you can post and all that other "fun" stuff that comes with blogging and my so-called creativity.

Last year I found these adorable foaming hand soaps at the dollar bin at Target. They came in the cutest colors and scents. I just could not resist! Some even had pretty satin bows already. There are only 2 of them shown here in the brown. I used vinyl on them, which I learned can be a treat to work with in these smaller sizes. I can't help it though, I just think they look too stinkin' cute! I have not seen these since the spring of 2011, so if you look for them, you may not find them anymore, but I don't get to Target too much and I could just be missing out on them when they have them in stock. Just consider yourself warned....

Oh, and did you happen to notice the box that three bottles are sitting on? Sometimes at craft shows, I need something to give me some height while still making the display look nice. I took some sturdy empty boxes and covered them with the craft/gingham wrapping paper and added a decorative strip of plain craft paper around the outside & then used a border punch for a little more interest.


I don't know if I have photos of the other bottles that I made up or not. Of all the bottles I sent to the magazine, they only published one, and that one isn't in this shot. sorry. I may have time later to see if I have a picture of it. If not, I have it in the magazine. 


That's it for me today, I have our lovely annual income taxes to finish up on for my meeting with the accountant in the morning. From my best calculations (*snicker!*), we might just miss receiving the Earned Income Credit. grrrr! This is that one time that I pray I'm wrong! It could mean getting an extra $3,000+ back in a tax refund. Who couldn't use an extra 3 grand?


TTFN!

 

 

Couple of little things

Been a little crazy around here lately, but that's probably the norm for many families, right? Not only has my hubby had to work the regular day shift at his job, but then he also had to work all of 2nd shift and part of 3rd. Poor guy. Luckily, it's only been 2 days last week and if we're lucky, 2 days this week, at the most. He sort of got caught up on his sleep over the weekend, but I don't think it's still out of his system. Not to mention that he worked until bedtime on Valentine's Day before starting this schedule. He doesn't mind work, in fact, he might be a workaholic to a certain extent. He just likes his family & home time better.


We did manage to have a date night on Friday. I haven't eaten out at a nice sit down restaurant that wasn't a McDonald's or a Taco Bell in I don't know how long. Then, to go to a store that didn't have a toy dept. - what a treat. Almost felt like something was missing though. LOL!

We went to JC Penney and they had a sale going on & I got a nice pair of dress boots for $15! The tables looked like Black Friday door buster specials. Crazy. I later found out that they had formal dresses for $2!!! R U Serious???? There were a couple left the next day, but nothing in my size or that I felt comfortable wearing, if ya know I mean.

We were invited to a friend's daughter's 16th birthday party on Sat., but after all the running around we did Friday night and again on Sat. morning, we had things at home that needed to get done. I did make a little something for her because she was a HUGE help for her mother and I at our first craft show of the season last year. I didn't do anything for her at the time, but knew I wanted to make her this at some point, but just never got around to it. I'm a little bit of a procrastinator. Don't believe me? For real.

I gave her this card I already had made, and figured after a couple of years, I should use it up.  The "Make A" part was cut using a font from the former Quickutz system. The "wish" part is cut with the Cricut and the little flame is an acrylic rain dot from Cloud 9. Then, I just embossed 2 lines around the border on 3 sides.

The letter "A" is a magnet I made for her school locker. It was made from a magnetic sheet I picked up at Joanne's with a coupon, even though it was reasonably priced to begin with. Then I layered black card stock and teal colored zebra print card stock. Hobby Lobby had paper packs 50% a couple of weeks ago & I originally bought it to finish up the mini album I'm working on, so this was just a bonus! The "A" was cut at 5 1/2 inches on my Cricut using the Hello Kitty Font cartridge.

The name underneath is black vinyl with the teal zebra card stock layered on it too. Since this picture was taken on my fridge and not in the birthday girl's room, I had to use some dollar tree magnets to hold it up. Sorry for the glare of the camera flash, but I wasn't even able to make a good picture in my editing program, so I had to settle for this. If you notice, the black stripes on the paper have a shiny finish to them. I used Cricut Design Studio and stretched the name to 17 inches on the screen view.


I delivered them to her today, but she was not feeling well and stayed in bed while her mom & I looked for the best spot for it in her room. She was oblivious to us.  Her mom seemed to be really pleased with them and said the color matched her room color very well.


So, this is all I have for show and tell today.

 
Parties I'm linking up to:

 

 

Could you use $50? - {CLOSED}

I am an avid follower of the Funky Junk Interior blog (she has two now). Click on the image below to connect to her 2nd site to see what I'm talking about.

 

If you're into re-purposing old junk into something chic and sophisticated, then you should become an avid follower too! She comes up with the most clever stuff, I tell ya.


Right now she's got a special give away from this place....maybe you've heard of them?

Her give away is in partnership with Apartment Guide.

Donna from Funky Junk and Apartment Guide wants to give us a chance to go shopping! 

  Up for grabs is a $50 Home Depot gift card!

50 Bucks worth!  How about that!

And guess what? It's open to U.S. and Canadian residents! 

Valentine's Day

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day today, even if you don't have that special "someone" in your life. Then just go and celebrate YOU! You're well worth it!

I am blessed to have a wonderful husband who, even though he tests my patience many a time, is the love of my life and I could never imagine it without him.


My hubby is a funny sort of fella. He's not very good at keeping things well hidden from me. At least he's not good about keeping hints that give away what his intentions are. He was just mentioning to our daughter last night something about learning his lesson to not ever get mommy flowers again because I got mad the last time on my birthday. There was much more to the story than just getting mad because he got me flowers. And it's not that I don't LOVE getting flowers...oh mercy no! I do feel they are a waste of money, unless you picked them for free, but I love flowers!

I didn't hear the UPS man pull up, but the dog made me aware that someone was outside. Even though the pkg states right on the address label, to be sure to ring or knock, the UPS man never did either. Maybe he figured the dog's few barks was warning enough. Needless to say, I couldn't figure out what the UPS man would be dropping off on MY doorstep. I sure wasn't expecting anything and didn't realize that they made floral deliveries.

Inside the cardboard box was this beautiful vase and red roses!

I was kinda sorta maybe thinking I might get some today.

I called to thank my sweet hubby, but there is a possibility that we won't be able to spend the evening together, as it's looking like the job he is working at may take all night. bummer. It's one of the down sides to his occupation of being a plumber.


In spite of his working late, I have been working on dessert for us. It's not going to be anything spectacular, but more than I typically do. I know, isn't it terrible? So creative & crafty and yet so lazy. pshhhh!


I put more work into the staging and the photography of these cuties than I did in making them. no lie.

No, they're not Pinterest material, but my family will be impressed! However, feel free to Pin them if you think I'm wrong... ;^)

They're just made from a box mix, but I only used one egg, instead of 2. They're less fluffy without the extra egg. I won't be eating these 4 since they have frosting, and I don't care for frosting. I just used canned white frosting with lots of red food coloring & then I sprinkled the red sugar crystals for my daughter. She won't eat yummy chocolate sprinkles on whip cream, but she'll eat the crunchy sugar on thick frosting! Blach! Give me sprinkles on whip cream any day! No, I will be content eating the leftover brownie that wasn't cut out. I love the hard, chewy edges and corners the best. And I think my daughter has weird tastes??? 

Hope you and yours have a wonderful Valentine's Day!



 
I'll be linking up to these parties:

Link Parties