And that is what I was going for when I put this into my son’s lunch. (He never has a treat in there, so I am sure he was thrilled.)

The best part? This was so easy to make. (For more information on it, you can head over the the Paper Crafts Connections blog. There are some other kids ideas there, too.)

Start with a 10 ¼” x 4” piece of cardstock (I used Bazzill) and add score lines at 2”, 2 ¼”, 6 ¼”, and 6 ½”. That is it! Just fold it up and you have a cookie holder. I also added a die cut window with the new Lawn Fawn Puffy Star die to the front panel so you could see the cookie inside. Here is what it looks like unfolded…

After I put a cookie in, I used an old Thicker letter sticker to hold it closed.

I had to add some stamping, of course… with a repeated Hero Arts circle (a great image!) and a Paper Smooches pencil. And I stretched a die cut banner (with a computer-generated greeting using the Ever After free font) across the star opening.

Here is a look at the awesome Lawn Fawn Puffy Star nesting dies set I used for the window. Adorable, huh?

And the repeated circles? It is from this Hero Arts set. Lots of good images here for building backgrounds on many styles of cards.

Colin loved this treat. I bet your little one would, too. Do you ever do any lunch surprises? Would love to hear ideas.

Take care!

Below are the supplies used for this card. To find them at Simon Says Stamp, click on the SSS below the thumbnails. For Ellen Hutson, click on EH…

Lawn Fawn Puffy Star Dies (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Not Perfect Stamp Set (SSS|EH)	Paper Smooches Smarty Pants Stamp Set (SSS|EH)	FAVORITE THING: Simon Says Stamp Small Folded Banners Dies	Vagabond Die Cutting Machine (SSS|EH)
Sizzix Vagabond Solo Thin Die Adapter (SSS|EH)	FAVORITE THING: Fiskars Premium Cut Paper Trimmer (Big)	Teflon Bone Folder	Corner Chomper (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Pool Shadow Ink (SSS|EH)
Copic Markers (SSS|EH)	Bazzill Robin’s Egg Cardstock	Neenah White Cardstock 250 Sheets (SSS|EH)	Neenah White Cardstock 25 Sheets (SSS|EH)

And one of my favorites? That would be Kelly Marie – the owner of Lawn Fawn. I was happy when she came to town to be part of a retreat with friends. Her energy is amazing.

She also brought with her some of her newest designs. When I saw her teacher set, I had to create something right away. So I have been holding on to this card for a few weeks… just waiting until she released the set…

Aren’t those images fabulous? And perfect for Colin’s teacher. She just rocks.

I heat embossed everything with white embossing powder and colored it in…

Lawn Fawn has recently released lots of great stamps and dies. Head over to their blog HERE to catch all the release party fun. (You can also get their newest products at Lawn Fawn directly or at Simon Says Stamp HERE.)

Oh… and I thought it would be fun to share this photo. Kelly and I were laughing so hard… and I have no idea why. Ha! It makes me smile.

See you soon!

Lawn Fawn A Good Apple Stamp Set	Lawn Fawn Blue Skies Stamp Set	Lawn Fawn Chevron Backdrops Stamp Set	FAVORITE THING: Hero Arts Milwaukee Heat Gun	FAVORITE THING: Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
FAVORITE THING: VersaMark Ink	Hero Arts Tide Pool Mid Tone Shadow Ink	Hero Arts Orange Soda Mid-Tone Shadow Ink	Copic Markers	FAVAORITE THING: Bazzill Rainbow Card Shoppe Variety Pack
Hero Arts Pool Notecards

This challenge was to create a card inspired by anything. For mine, I was inspired by the heart trail on Emily Leipharts’s card HERE. (Isn’t her card the cutest?!) She did hers with a Lawn Fawn stamp, but I don’t have that set so I did my heart trail with a white pen…

I turned the little lightning bugs into bees by adding stripes and coloring with Copics. Oh, and a quick coat of Glossy Accents gave them some shine. The greeting? I did that myself with alphabet stamps…

I also stamped the hexagon border repeatedly with black ink on a black notecard. Really fun in real life…

Be sure to head over to the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog to learn how you can play along and possibly win…

I just realized I have two of my favorite Lawn Fawn stamp sets – the A Birdie Told Me set. So leave a comment here by 4/19/13 at 11:50pmEST for your chance to win it! Good luck.

Lawn Fawn Summertime Charm Stamp Set (SSS|EH)	Lawn Fawn Bannerific Stamp Set (SSS|EH)	Lawn Fawn Claires ABC Stamp Set (SSS|EH)	Lawn Fawn Interlocking Backdrops Stamp Set	FAVORITE THING: White Uniball Signo Pen
Corner Chomper (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Black Dye Ink (SSS|EH)	FAVORITE THING: Memento Tuxedo Black Ink	Copic Markers (SSS|EH)	Lawn Fawn Bright Side 6×6 Paper Pad (SSS|EH)
Hero Arts Black Notecards (SSS|EH)	Neenah White Cardstock 250 Sheets (SSS|EH)	Neenah White Cardstock 25 Sheets (SSS|EH)	Glossy Accents (SSS|EH)

Today I am a guest designer for my friends over at the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog. This blog offers some fun challenges with great prizes. This month is embossing and and the prize is a gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp!

Here is my card, using lots of fun Lawn Fawn goodies and a fun heat embossing technique…

This is one of those looks-super-cool-in-real-life-but-doesn’t-show-well-in-a-photo techniques. I simply clear embossed the Lawn Fawn word bubbles and greetings on white cardstock and then covered them generously with Distress Ink. (The embossing will resist it.) I then did the unthinkable – I ironed. I just put the pieces on a cloth and then put a piece of typing paper over it. I then ran an iron over it at medium heat… causing the embossing to transfer to the scrap paper. That left my stamped pieces perfectly matte and oh so yummy. (Disclaimer: Every iron is different. Please practice first. If you would like to see this technique in action, you can find it in the recent Pattern Play class.)

Oh – and I used the Hero Arts White DYE Ink on their charcoal paper with a Lawn Fawn border stamped repeatedly. I LOVE the white dye ink on darker papers. It is subtle and creates the coolest affect. LOVE…

Be sure to check out the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog for more fun.

Thanks for stopping by! (By the way, I will be back to announce a bunch of winners soon!)

Lawn Fawn Sharp Backdrops Stamp Set	Lawn Fawn A Birdie Told Me Stamp Set	Lawn Fawn Home Sweet Home Stamp Set	Lawn Fawn Summertime Charm Stamp Set	Lawn Fawn Many Thanks Stamp Set
Lawn Fawn A Birdie Told Me Dies	Lawn Fawn Hearts Dies	FAVORITE THING: Sizzix Vagabond Die Cut Machine	FAVORITE THING: Sizzix Vagabond Wafer Thing Die Adapter Plate	FAVORITE THING: Hero Arts Milwaukee Heat Gun
FAVORITE THING: Hero Arts Ultrafine Clear Embossing Powder	FAVORITE THING: Hero Arts White Dyi Ink	Peacock Feathers Distress Ink	Salty Ocean Distress Ink	Mowed Lawn Distress Ink
Dried Marigold Distress Ink	Pumice Stone Distress Ink	FAVORITE THING: VersaMark Ink	Hero Arts Charcoal Notecards	FAVORITE THING: Neenah Classic White Cardstock 250 Sheets
FAVORITE THING: Neenah Classic White Cardstock 25 Sheets	FAVORITE THING: Tombow Stamp Runner Adhesive	Best Creation 3-D Foam Adhesive

Isn’t that incredible! Congrats, Lawn Fawn! Love seeing good things happen to good people.

Oh, and Lawn Fawn also is having a contest. You can enter to have your Lawn Fawn project be in their catalog and CHA booth. So fun! You can find info HERE.

Sweet Kelly Marie said I could give away one of the Critters Ever After stamp sets that Zooey Deschanel featured above. Just leave a comment here by Friday at 11:59pmEST for your chance to win.

Good luck!

Lawn Fawn is having a fun Inspiration Week starting today. Their Inspiration Weeks are fun – they focus on a few of their great products and show a TON of creative ways to use them along with videos and giveaways. (Go HERE to find their blog.) Today they are focusing on their adorable Winter Owl Set, and I decided to play along…

Isn’t that owl the cutest? Especially with oversized google eyes. I also used my favorite Lawn Fawn set on the background – the Interlocking Backdrops. Isn’t that herringbone fabulous? The branch is actually the Simon Says Stamp Tall Tree die cut placed sideways. Love the unexpected uses of die cuts.

I used a new coloring tool to color the owl and moon. More on that in a few days…

Be sure to head to Lawn Fawn for more inspiration! (Supplies are at the end of this post.)

Warning: If you are trying to save money, do not continue reading. Ha. I have a bit of (really good) enabling. Or at least some shares of things I am really enjoying lately…

You know I love Distress Inks. Big time. And some of my favorite colors are ones from the Seasonal sets. Well… Ranger finally has released them as individual inks and reinkers. Woot woot! You can find them all HERE. In general, these colors tend to be brighter than the standard ones. (Which makes me happy. Don’t tell Tim.) My favorites? Peacock Feathers (the best pool color), Gathered Twigs (the perfect brown), Mowed Lawn (grass green – yay!) and Salty Ocean (true blue)…

There are a few new stamp sets available at Simon Says Stamp – fabulous ones. Without a doubt, these are all must-haves. (Again!) Click on them to see more…

THIS. This is something that is on my wish list. Big time. But I just haven’t been able to cough up the bucks on it. But it is incredible – a limited addition set of Copics in the best colors. And get this – they have both the brush tip and the standard fine nib. (This is unique – usually these two tips aren’t on the same marker.) I LOVE these two tips. I think I may have to cave…

A new Simon Says Stamp card kit is out – November‘s. Lovely and classy. Here is the kit…

You can also now get this rocking holiday card kit. It is big and wonderful. I plan to use mine to decorate all the presents under the tree. (Can you just imagine how cute that would look with plain silver and red wrapping paper? Delightful.)

I mentioned this one the other day. I got some and love it. It is a must have. If you have taken any of my classes, you know I loved the Eclipse Tape big roll, but it is no longer available. Guess what? Now you can get it in sheets! (Can you say perfect for die cutting?!) You can find it HERE. (This product is amazing for masking and more.)

And then some other fun products I am happy to soon play with: Studio Calico Wood Veneer Trees, Studio Calico 6×6 Wonderland Paper Pad, and Metallic Distress Stains.

I warned ya. Some good products out there! See you soon.

First, a little business. Just wanted to let you know that I made some changes and you can now easily sign up HERE to receive emails whenever I post, or to add me to your feed reader, like Google Reader. If you already get my posts via email, you are set – no need to do again. Thanks!

Moving on…

I know a lot of people say they struggle with masculine cards – I know I often do. So I thought I would share a couple I have done recently. This first one is very similar to one I did that can be seen in the most recent issue of Creating Keepsakes. It would be great for a guy or to donate to the Operation Write Home folks. Uses lots of Hero Arts, including THIS great stamp set…

And here is another that was a big ol’ reject from Paper Crafts. (Yes, we Go To Gals get rejected too! It is part of the process.) Used THIS cute set from Lawn Fawn. All the socks are from the same stamp – I just doodled different patterns on them. A great way to get more from your stamps…

The best part about masculine cards? You can usually just change the colors to feminine and do the exact same card for a gal. Easy peasy.

Be back soon!

Below are the supplies used for this card. To find them at Simon Says Stamp, click on the SSS below the thumbnails. For Ellen Hutson, click on EH…

Hero Arts All The Time Stamp Set (SSS|EH)	Lawn Fawn My Silly Valentine Stamp Set (SSS|EH)	Copic Markers (SSS|EH)	Neenah White Cardstock 25 Sheets (SSS|EH)	White Embossing Powder (SSS|EH)
Corner Chomper (SSS|EH)	HA Sunshine Mixed Accents (SSS|EH)	EK Success Powder Tool (SSS|EH)

The wonderful folks at Lawn Fawn are having a big Inspiration Week. There are TONS of card shares, prizes and more each day. Be sure to head HERE to check it all out.

I decided it would be fun to play along and use a few products I have been itching to use. After using THIS new awesome set of hexagon dies to cut pieces from the adorable Lawn Fawn 6×6 papers, I added a cute Lawn Fawn Flutter By. Oh, and that butterfly? He pops out and shakes thanks to THESE fun doodads. (More on that in a bit.) The greeting is from their Claire’s ABC’s set – it is perfect for creating your own greetings.

So, about those doodads. They are Action Wobble Springs – little soft springs that make an element pop up and shake. They flatten nicely to go in an envelope, but then pop up and shake when they are free to…

See the “spring” under there? Such a fun surprise to add to a card. And I promise it flattens nicely…

And here card is another I did at the same time. Thanks to the many hexagon nesting dies in that die set, I easily made some extra pieces and created this a-bit-too-funky background. Oh, and that butterfly pops out and shakes, too…

I wanted to show the fun movement these cards have, so I did a quick video with my iPhone. It is a pretty pathetic video, but you get the idea.

These were such fun to create. That is what I love about Lawn Fawn stamps – they make me happy.

So this is what that hexagon die set looks like:

And these are the springs (you can trim some of the excess around the edge to make them smaller)…

And this is the cute Lawn Fawn 6×6 paper pad. Great tone-on-tone prints in there…

Be sure to check out all the other fun Lawn Fawn is having for their Inspiration Week HERE.

Off to have some ice cream. Baby wants some. Night.

And I have a giveaway! Leave a comment here by Thursday at 11:59pmEST for your chance to win a Lawn Fawn Bright Side 6×6 Paper Pad! (I am off to order for myself, so I will order an extra for the winner.) Good luck.

Below are the supplies used for this card. To find them at Simon Says Stamp, click on the SSS below the thumbnails. For Ellen Hutson, click on EH…

Lawn Fawn Flutter By Stamp Set (SSS|EH)	Lawn Fawn Claires ABC Stamp Set (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments (SSS|EH)	Lawn Fawn Bright Side 6×6 Paper Pad (SSS|EH)
Lifestyle Crafts Hexagon Dies	Action Wobble Springs	Hero Arts Black Dye Ink (SSS|EH)	Versamark (SSS|EH)
White Embossing Powder (SSS|EH)	Heat Gun	Hero Arts Snow Notecards	Tombow Stamp Runner Adhesive (SSS|EH)

Yesterday I shared a glitter tree card. Today? Same glitter but with chevrons. Yes, you will be seeing lots of fun techniques with this awesome glitter in the future. (And also in my A Cut Above class.) I normally am not a glitter person, but the way this looks like glitter velvet after it goes on is something I just love.

I also am just loving THESE new chevron zig zag dies from My Favorite Things. So fun…

Simple simple simple.

To create those zig zags, I covered some white cardstock with the double sided tape and then die cut it. After removing the release paper, I added glitter. To make the glitter turn velvety and stay put, I just rubbed it firmly with a bone folder. Fun, huh? Used some clear foam tape to pop them up.

HERE are the dies I used. I have a fun window card video coming up soon that will show these dies in a different way…

See you soon…

Below are the supplies used for this card. To find them at Simon Says Stamp, click on the SSS below the thumbnails. For Ellen Hutson, click on EH…

My Favorite Things Chevron Stripes Dies	Paper Smooches Geographic Stamp Set (SSS|EH)	Grand Greetings Lawn Fawn	Glitter Ritz Latte Microfine Glitter (SSS|EH)
Glitter Ritz Grasshopper Microfine Glitter (SSS|EH)	Glitter Ritz Ocean Spray Microfine Glitter (EH|SSS)	Sookwang Tape (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Black Dye Ink (SSS|EH)
Clear Foam Adhesive	Hero Arts Pool Notecards (SSS|EH)

A quick share for you – this was in a recent issue of Paper Crafts. I rarely share the cards I have in there, but wanted to share this one. If you are like me, you are in constant need of cards with messages like this one…

A little Glossy Accents goes a long way in adding some dimension and shine to those little hearts.

The greeting was generated on my computer… the band aids were colored with Copics… and the paper is My Mind’s Eye 6×6.

By the way, those band aids are from THIS Lawn Fawn set. The stamp actually has the smile on it. But for the first two band aids, I just left it uninked and stamped in the heart instead. Another way to get more from your stamps…

Cute set, eh?

I have a fun giveaway today – the new Paper Crafts Party Ensembles book! This book is a lot of fun – has over 140 party ensembles with over 1000 projects. I have a few in there and here is a peek at one. It is to celebrate Uncle Mike Day – something our family does every year. (There is a holiday for every other person in the family – why not fab Uncles?) To see the whole thing, check out page 114 of the book…

For your chance to win a copy of the Paper Crafts Party Ensembles book, just leave a comment here by Wednesday at 11:59pmEST. Good luck.

The winners of the May Arts ribbon bundles include: Jodi A, Jennifer Snyder and Jennifer Harris. I emailed you.