Valentine Swag Bag

Hello everyone, happy to be back here with a fun design team project for The Cutting Cafe. As most know here in the U.S. our 45th president was sworn in earlier today and like all presidential inaugurations I watched it live. Any time there's a new change in American leadership it's always inspiring to watch our seamless transition of power. Something I believe all Americans everywhere can be proud of! We thank the Obama's for their service and wish the Trump's the very best as they begin their new roles as our President and First Lady.

{the envelope w/heart is from the Mailbox Template...Cutting File}

Okay, moving on to my project which I'm super excited to share. A while back I found a video on You Tube featuring a swag bag. I guess I've been under a rock but it's the first time I'd seen one and was eager to try it. As a pocket letter pal I thought it'd be a fun way to share some happy mail with my pals and to make one for my daughter for Valentine's. This one is for her and I can't wait to give it to her next month. :) I placed the Heart Envelope Shaped Card Template...Cutting File on the front of my bag and for my purposes I used the card base and top envelope layer. It flips open to reveal more hearts which are also included in the file, as well as the small red hearts on the front. I added a pink polka dot magnet bookmark as she's an avid reader. I'll fill her name in on the banner closer to Valentine's. :)

I added a pocket at the bottom and a row of heart washi tape, gifted to me my a Pocket Letter Pal last year, was placed in the middle. A white gel pen and liquid dots finish the inside.

I tucked some crafty goodies my daughter can use for her college scrapbook. Of course closer to time I'll add some Sweet Tarts and her favorite chocolate bar. Candy is a must at Valentine's Day, right!?!

I used another file, Layered Stitched Hearts, to create a heart base for my wand. 

I attached the large stitched heart to a paper straw and added two Heidi Swapp gold foil hearts which I altered with distress ink, a pink glitter foam heart, and a cupid cut from red glitter paper. The cupid is from Silhouette's online store and I outlined my heart with liquid pearls, added an ephemera banner that says 'I love you' and popped up a heart shaped paper doily behind it. I'll attach a chocolate heart on the back for her to enjoy. 

That's my project share for the 21st DT post which will be up on The Cutting Cafe's blog tomorrow. Be sure to visit to see the many creative Valentine's Day projects by my DT buddies. If you leave a comment on that post you'll automatically be entered to win 3 FREE SETS of your choice. Regina will announce the winner on Feb. 7th. 

Thanks for the visit today, I have more swag bags to share next week right here on my blog as well as my outgoing/incoming pocket letters for November and December. Unfortunately with the busy holiday season I am terribly late in sharing those. 

Have a great weekend, wherever you are.

Lisa xx

Clean and Simple with The Cutting Cafe

Hello again!

I'm back as promised with two cards created for The Cutting Cafe's January 7th design team post. Regina asked us to create clean and simple cards with a solid background using the 

Everyday Greetings Set 1 Printable Stamps

and

Everyday Greetings Set 2 Printable Stamps

which are filled with wonderful greetings for every occasion. A simple assignment but as it turns out CAS isn't that easy. Some folks make it look that way but I admit I felt a bit like a fish out of water. I kept wanting to add something to each card. On the card above I embossed the front, die cut a mini globe and backed it with blue cardstock and added a black panel behind my greeting. 

For this card I used 'The sky's the limit' greeting and went with die cut clouds, a 3D kite with twine string and 3 rub on butterflies by Tim Holtz. I was going to stop there but felt the greeting needed something extra so I added some faux stitching. 

By taking a key word out of each greeting and using the 'clean and simple' style you could make several cards to have at the ready. In fact, that's exactly what I did but since some of them are for those who read my blog I'm not going to share them just yet. 

You can see all of the inspiration for these printable stamps sets tomorrow on The Cutting Cafe's blog. On a personal note, I want to congratulate Regina on becoming a new grandmother to Zoe Lani Easter! I know you are going to be a FABulous grandma!!! 

I'm off to enjoy lunch with my darling daughter and continue our Midsomer Murders binge watching while the snow falls softly outside our window. 

Have a great weekend and stay safe on the roads, wherever you are. :)

Lisa xx

A is for Anything Christmas, B is for Things Beginning with 'B'

A - Anything Goes

B - Things Beginning with 'B'

My first post for 2017 is a design team project for ABC Christmas Challenge. There are new challenge rules this year so be sure to check the challenge blog. My card features an image by one of our sponsors, Sami Stamps. 

Sponsors

Sami Stamps

  

and 

Wild Orchid Crafts

Both sponsors are offering gift certificates to their online shops.

Helen also has a nice prize for the lucky winner.

On my card I used the Waiting for Santa image and colored it with Prismacolor pencils. 

I decided to turn some of the greenery into poinsettias on the garland, a bit of a twist on this image. I added a chipboard number '24' to the left side and a dotted ribbon behind it. I cut my red card base at 4.25" x 5.25", layered a green panel on top and Scotch foam tape provides some dimension. 

The challenge runs from today, the 1st Wednesday of the month, until the last day of January so you have plenty of time to play along. You can choose either 'A' or 'B' and we look forward to seeing your creations. I love the sponsor's image and if you like it as well be sure to visit Sami Stamps. 

Thanks for the visit today, to view more inspiration visit the challenge blog to see the creations my teamies made. I'll be back on Friday with another design team post so I'll see you then. 

Happy New Year,

Lisa xx