oh the love...

The time has come to share...Nikki Sivils and Provo Craft have come together this year to show you how, with the work of the die cutter and tools, you can make the most of all of your Nikki Sivils Scrapbooking products. Giving much love to both companies for providing the design team with amazing products to share with you!
Supplies used: max & mollie, we are family, summer, victoria's secret (stamp), bread(less) tag, cricut expression (storybook and home accent cartridges), spellbinders (heart circles), really reasonable ribbon (twine)

Head on over to Nikki Sivils to see other projects featuring Spellbinders and Provo Craft in this month's challenge...

Andrea

friends...

Edited to add this special coupon code from Whimsie Doodles... As we make plans with great friends, old and new, this summer felt like this card said it all...

Tea cup and sentiment from Whimsie Doodles.

Andrea

stay connected...

First...don't forget about the giveaway in the post below (here). You have until the 31st to enter! Today I just wanted to pop in to share with you the new tutorial for this quilted book cover over at Glue Arts...
My mother recently sent me a large box of letters from our exchange students when I was in middle school. I was so excited when I got the opportunity to pull up the box and read them over again. I quickly realized how far we have come since then with computers. I loved opening these letters...all from Japan...and seeing their personality shine through with the stationary they chose, pictures they drew and amazing adventures they loved to share. Such happy memories.

Have a pleasant evening...so formal right? Watched my littlest man graduate from pre-k today and couldn't help but to shed a tear or two. Now to sit back and look over this "yearbook" and realize how fast he is growing!

Andrea

color my heart...

Again, neglecting my real garden to make a little garden of my own inside today...Created these little embellishments using stick pins, felt and tiny tags from Papertrey Ink. Found these cupcake liners in the craft store one day and felt in love. The are very sturdy, absolutely adorable and perfect for this little project. Cut a styrofoam ball in half, covered with fabric and glued it to the inside bottom of the liner to stick in the pins. Used twine, satin, sheer and pink with gold ribbon to embellish the basket and pins which can all be found over at Really Reasonable Ribbon. The sentiment comes from Paper Fashions Etc., which I recently became a design team member of...yeah :)

So...to celebrate the quickly approaching summer, new design team and just for fun you may be able to win this little bunch of pretties. All you have to do is post a comment here by May 31st and I will randomly draw a winner.

Andrea

from ribbon to fabric...

Posted my first tutorial for Really Reasonable Ribbon yesterday and wanted to share it with you here. To find out how I created the ribbon die cut shape used on the card below... ...head on over to RRR here and see just how easy it is to turn ribbon into fabric! Hope you are enjoying your Sunday. Warm here, but guess I am getting used to the heat after five years in the south. I will be back in soon to share some exciting news and projects! Thinking a giveaway is in order since I will be taking a few weeks away in June...stay tuned.

Andrea

what's the buzz...

So to keep with the theme of creating my own embellishments from scrap pieces, scissors and just a couple of die cuts... I would love to share a few more tags I created today.
This little bee is super simple and oh so sweet. Used a little pom-pom trim from Really Reasonable Ribbon, vintage lace and wrinkle ribbon from Prairie Bird Boutique. Created a pocket to hold the tag and gift card if needed by just sewing up the sides of folded cardstock and adding the front piece once complete.This second tag I made a butterfly by just folding the paper in half and going elementary with it...meaning using just my scissors to cut out the shape :)Once again I used this gorgeous ivory satin ribbon from RRR to finish off the tag.This little guy is my favorite...Cut out the owl body, wings, nose and belly...but used a die cut for the eyes and heart. Also, the limb and leaves were cut by hand.Added a little pocket to the back to tuck in this tag. Remember this is a perfect time to pull out those tiny scraps of paper. I keep everything...really everything, which is probably why my bins are so huge and stuffed. Topped the tag with some beautiful red wrinkle ribbon and burlap twine.Finally, a very basic shape...an apple. Easy, quick and always in need around here. Again, made a pocket to attach to the back for this tag to be tucked away in. Also a great idea for a gift card holder. Thank you for stopping by...hope this inspires you to create something unique and fun. Now back to the drawing board to create some more...gotta get some crafting time in before my break.

Andrea

paper creation...

It is always fun to dive into the scrap bin of paper and create something your own shaped card or embellishments with little use of a die cutter. Today I am bringing you just that...
To create this cupcake...(1) cut a folded piece of craft paper and cut into cup shape. Stitch three lines in cup front then fold back together stitching up three sides as shown. (2) Hand cut layers of the cupcake...this is where it gets fun. (3) Add lace, ribbon, etc. to each layer and stitch. (4) Adhere layers to each other and cupcake cup front. (5) Make a cute tag to fit inside the pocket. I just love how the little bow peeks out the top.
Here is a second cupcake which was created using the same idea, but really no pattern needed...just be creative!
Finally a tag using a strawberry I hand cut from scrap pieces, used a marker to create the seeds and glittered it up. Topped the tag off with some gorgeous ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon...which I have decided to start playing with all of the larger ribbon in their shop and WOW is it amazing!

Off to create more tonight and hope to have more posted in my shop by tomorrow or Friday. Have more on my mind to create tonight and can't wait to see how they come out :)

Andrea

pretty it up...

Do you love October Afternoon as much as I do? The colors, design and all of the above...right? So how excited I was to receive a little package of goodies to create something using my Glue Arts products and OA! To get step by step instructions for the following project just click HERE.
Love the use of Glue Arts 3D foam on this project. It really makes each element pop. Thank you for stopping by and head on over if you haven't already...

Andrea

swing...

After a long, but very fun, weekend of crafting my boys and I spent a nice evening playing some tennis. Nothing like watching a five and seven year old run around the court trying so hard to put what they learn in lessons into playing. Too cute! So just wanted to pop in and share a few baby cards I created using some Whimsie Doodle images from the Baby Joy rubber stamp set.
Update on the shop...I will be post on Wednesday around 9 pm EST if you want to stop by. There will be many new cards and tags to share. Only three week's left before my break officially begins. A little scared for all of the free time, but know it is very much needed.

Off to get a little coffee brewing to fill my house with that yummy, ready to wake up scent.

Andrea

wouldn't this be nice...

Yum...that is all I have to say about this stamp set from Inky Antics and the beautiful ribbon club assortment from Really Reasonable Ribbon this month. Used a sewing machine, minus the thread, to punch holes along the border and hand stitched the line using baker' twine (cotton candy). I added the diamond pink ribbon (from this month's assortment) and a touch of lace under the bottom layer of cupcake. You may have seen this cupcake and bird used throughout my posts recently...it is obvious that I adore it to pieces.

Thank you for allowing me to share my take on the challenge and hope you can hop on over to RRR and participate as well!

Andrea

and five...

Welcome to the hop...my very first one and so excited to share my card with you today!
Trudy
Andrea - You are here!
Misty
Connie
Angi
Crystal
Jeanne
Sarah
Cheryl

Remember to hop on over to Misty's blog next and make your way back to Really Reasonable Ribbon blog to enter for a chance to win something special!

Supplies used from RRR: jute string - pink, lace , and twine

Andrea

one, two, three, four...

After all of that work...I am back and re-posting this from yesterday, which then will lead up to the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog hop post immediately following. As you may have seen, for a brief time yesterday, my post of four cards...all similar except for a change of themes. See if you can find the similarities...
Stay tuned for the post to follow as it will be the fifth card in the set and you can follow along with the hop. The last thing to share...another heart"felt" item to add to the collection.
Andrea

live your bliss...

A weekend of peace and quiet with my girls...lots of chatting, yummy food and plenty of sun. Now mommy duty is in full swing again and back to being exhausted. Bringing you a few projects today. The first from my first post over at the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog...
Check out the post for a listing of the ribbon, trims, and twine used in this project. As I work on a few projects for upcoming posts I completed my very first mini album and oh what fun it was...I have discovered a large number of chipboard albums or pieces in my collection recently and just waited for the inspiration to come. I used a layered Christmas tree set from Maya Road and two small white pockets to make this one. Finally, a card I created using some new fabric flowers and leaves I am working on. If you have not used fabric stiffener before...it is quite fun. No fraying, gave it a wrinkled look and can easily by die cut.Have to go play the ref in one of many arguments I have heard so far today. Maybe there is something in the air.

sent him off with a smile...

This morning my little man went off to school with a smile...teacher gift in hand. Thought with all of the ruffles, flowers and pink that he may want to carry it into the school in his backpack, but no. Held that little tote proudly and couldn't wait to give it to his teacher. Here to share three cards I have put together and finally able to get a little sun ...and don't forget about time...today.
This little house is a new template from Whimsie Doodles, school house shaped card. Instead of using it as a school house I turned it into a little cottage and used the sentiment "from my heart to your home", which seemed to fit perfectly. Check out the new apple card template too...super cute! Just received these little tags from Papertrey Ink and wanted to use each and everyone on one card...As you may have noticed many punches being used recently. I have pulled them all out and layering away. In the above card used a simple flower punch and below layers of border punches. I piled on the details with these mini cards. Circle die cuts, doily die cut, paper, stamped images, felt, twine and the adorable tags to top it all off. Getting excited for a little getaway with the girls this weekend and couldn't be more ready. Difficult these days to coordinate "mommy" schedules, but we did it and soon we will be off having fun in the sun without our little ones circling our feet. Working on a few new projects and ready to fill my Etsy shop again come Tuesday. Thank you for allowing me to share today and hope all you mommies out there have a much deserved weekend of relaxing and fun.