Jingle Belles TEXT ME doodley-doo holiday & blog candy

Happy Saturday! I've been away in FL with my dh & our girls visiting my grandmother, aunt & uncle. We enjoyed a really nice visit. We rode the overnight auto train to FL, which was a new experience for all of us. I stayed in FL a few extra days for the first annual HoneyBee retreat in Orlando, FL. It was great fun getting to know my fellow DT sisters even better...check out Betty Bee's Buzz to see pics of us and some of our projects!

I went thru a little Jingle Belles & blog withdrawal :) There was no free wi-fi on our train, and it was sketchy at best in the hotel. As a result I missed out on last week's Jingle Belles challenge, but today I tried this week's challenge, TEXT ME. I used SEI's doodley-doo holiday papers. I feel a bit rusty at card making after being gone so long from my craft room. I cut the curvy mats on my cricut from two different double-sided papers, so I may try to make another card using the reverse sides.

I did get to make some fun projects with my fellow HoneyBees, and I will share one on Wednesday with you. The others are already posted at the hive. Friendly reminder:

currently at Betty Bee's Buzz:

***Don't forget to leave us comments, posts and links to be eligible for our blog candy give away. All entries for the month of Feb. will be included, and the winner will be announced on March 2nd.

There are a couple of extra goodies out there, so check out the Wednesday challenges! This week our challenge is to enter any project featuring a BEE. One in every five will win a special gift that was given to the HoneyBees at the swarm!

Lovin' From the Oven Gem of a Challenge

This week's Stamptacular Sunday Challenge is "Lovin' from the Oven." I also used a gem of a sketch from A Gem of a Challenge. I think Riley Moose is so cute with his cupcake and coffee :)

Supplies:
BasicGrey Nook & Pantry 6x6 papers
Core'dinations Color Core card stock
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
Hanna Stamps (Riley Moose)
SU chocolate chip ink, chocolate chip card stock, and word window punch
American Crafts brads
Spellbinders Nestabilities Blossom

***Blog Candy reminder on my previous post :)

Sweet Treats - Cupcake Gift Card Holder & BLOG CANDY

I made this for my sweet sweet sister for her birthday last week.

One of my favorite paper crafting projects is to create different styles of gift card holders. This one is really innovative. Just pull the cherry and "whipped cream":

I first saw this tutorial last summer and I knew I wanted to make it for someone special. When I was visiting my best girlfriends last August, I saw some crinkly ribbon in orange, lime green, aqua, and purple. I knew it would be perfect for this project! I split the package with my girlfriend, Kaye. I used all the orange on the base of my cupcake, and just a little bit of the green near the top.

I posted the link for this easy-to-follow video tutorial by Tresa Black at Betty Bee's Buzz. This took me a total of 2 hours to make.

Time saving tips:

Cut your 2 @ 1"x12" chocolate chip card stock strips and 1 @ 1"x12" strip of white card stock (whipped cream) FIRST. Wet and scrunch so that it will be dry by the time you are ready to hot glue it to the styrofoam ball.

If you have that really cool SU circle cutter to cut your 6" circle from chipboard, that may be ideal! I don't own that, so I cut a 6" circle from card stock on my cricut, then traced the card stock circle on my chipboard and cut by hand. Being a former secondary math teacher, I could have used my compass to draw on my chipboard, then cut it out, but I was too lazy to go upstairs and get it :)

Funny story: On my way to see my sister, I stopped by Macy's to purchase the gift card. When the lady tried to hand me an envelope to hold the gift card, I said, "No, thank you. I don't need one." I pulled out the cupcake to insert the gift card and she gasped :) The customer in line behind me said, "Well, you're the person to know! How did you do that?"

I'll bet you have some really great treat ideas to share this week, too! Just post your blog, SCS, or gallery link at Betty Bee's Buzz here! All entries will be entered into our February Blog Candy give away ....

BONUS!!!! In honor of the HoneyBee Retreat that is happening in just a few days, IF we have over 25 entries, those entries will be entered into a drawing, and FIVE will be winners of a very special gift being custom made just for the HoneyBees!!! I promise you'll like it! So, post your projects, tell your friends, link about it, and generally help spread the word, if you can! It'll BEE fun! I am off to pack now; once per year we take our girls to FL to see their Autism specialist. We will be on the train to sunny Florida tomorrow to visit my grandmother, my aunt, and my great aunt for the weekend. Monday morning dh & I will take the girls to their Autism specialist, and that afternoon Betty Bee will whisk me off to the HoneyBee reTREAT in Orlando while dh & my girls return home on the train :)

Sweet Treat Cups Teacher Gifts - Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I had some mass-production goin' on this weekend. It actually only took me 3 hours to make 12 of these cards for the daughters' bus driver, teachers, ST, OT, and the school secretaries...these people who help care for my dds and make our lives a little easier. (The little milk carton "Got Love?" is Sue's idea; she is my SU rep and we made them at her January stamp camp.)
I actually ordered the stamp set and heart sweet treat cups last year. But we had snow, snow, and more snow and my dds were out of school from February 5th-15th. I made a group "spring gift" instead. Remember my "Teacher Survival Kit" inspired by my DT sister, Jana Eubank? Yeah, the teachers loved it and they are still using it (the candy has been refilled dozens of times now.) I made these treat cup cards this year and I will deliver them in a couple of hours. I even decorated the inside:
See the "trap door"? The teachers will pull the tab to access the candy. Many of the other card ideas I have seen involved destroying the card to get to the candy. I got this idea from Jenni, who has a super easy video tutorial here. Thank you, Jenni!!!

If you need a really easy last minute gift today, check out Betty's paper basket tutorial at Betty Bee's Buzz. Quick and fabulous; I promise!

No Red, She Said!

Every Friday Jingle Belles has a new Christmas card challenge; this week is "no red, she said." I have never had so much fun making holiday cards...perhaps because the stress is off and it is one card a week...no mass production! This is my fourth week participating, so that is 4 fewer cards I need to make next fall :) I decided to go with blue and silver metallic Christmas papers for iris folding. I framed it using my new SU embossing folder "Framed Tulips." I layered on metallic blue card stock and on a SU Whisper White base card.

Today I started making my teacher valentine gifts. I forgot to buy candy, so hopefully I can get them finished tomorrow.

Love, love, love!

I made this little card today. I was actually looking for my SU butterflies embosslit, and I can't find it! I am an organized person, and I am so frustrated that it is not in any logical place I can think of...I opted for my Martha Stewart butterfly punches. Has this ever happened to you?

I was inspired by the sketch at Clean&Simple and the colour challenge at Less is More. You know I had to give my cricut a little chirp too...I used my Plantin Schoolbook cartridge to cut the hearts and I embossed them with the Cuttlebug Birds & Swirls embossing folder. The adhesive lace is by Hero Arts and the paper from Creative Imaginations.

Other lovely challenges this week:

Crafty Purple Frog - Love/Romance
Crazy 4 Challenges- Valentine's Day card
Creative Card Crew- For a Loved One
Die Cuttin Divas- Love is in the Air
Fantabulous Cricut- Share the Love

Don't forget to share your projects with us today at Betty Bee's Buzz for Buzz, Brag & Bee Happy Friday.

Tie one on! (A ribbon, that is...)

Happy Monday! This week our HoneyBee inspiration for you is to use ribbon in a creative way. I had the idea for this card in my head, but I was not sure how it might evolve. I wanted to cut the heart out on my cricut machine (though you could use a punch, die or cutting template.) I got my cricut machine almost 3 months ago and I have had fun learning how to use it via both trial & error on my part and Betty Bee's expert advice!

My complete tutorial to cut an aperture on your cricut and/or how to make this card here at Betty Bee's Buzz. I hope you will check it out...I like this idea for using up ribbon scraps OR using neglected ribbon in my stash :)

Warm Woolie Wishes

This week's Jingle Belles challenge (use felt) was more of a challenge than a sketch! My subconscious has been working on what I would do, and then I remembered I had some BasicGrey Woolies and an idea emerged...a non-traditional card. Okay, well maybe not. I did still go with reds and green with a touch of navy and yellow. I was also inspired by:

The Paper Players
CPS card sketches
CardPatterns
Cardabilities

Other supplies:
BasicGrey June Bug 6x6 papers
Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 3
Bazzill card stock (navy)
Heidi Swapp bling
SU border punch

MFT & copic Papercraft Star

This may be one of my scrappiest cards ever :) Flopsey was stamped and colored more than a year ago! When I cut the scalloped oval, I accidentally cut too close to the edge and got some of the text label; fortunately it is Core'dinations card stock, so I sanded it off. Then I cut the red layer and my paper slid and cut off 3 of the tips, so I hand trimmed it down and added the navy half layer.

These scraps have been laying around all of this time. Then I saw this week's Papercraft Star challenge (copic & MFT) and the MFT Wednesday sketch and I decided today Flopsey needed a home! Now that I sorted all of my ribbons and buttons by color (vs. by manufacturer), crafting is easier for me.

The confused holiday card...LUCKY in LOVE

Happy Groundhog Day! I sure hope Punxsutawney Phil does not see his shadow :)

Our challenge this week at Betty Bee's Buzz is to use a heart in a clever way. I wanted to use my cricut and my neglected chipboard to make a valentine for dh. I used one heart as the bird's wing and 3 hearts to create a shamrock. I don't send St. Patrick's Day cards, but I like to make cards that say "lucky to have you" or in this case:
"lucky in love." I suppose this could be a card for both Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day...*killing two birds with one stone (sorry, bad pun!)

Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Early Bird 6x6 papers, Martha Stewart border punch; Cricut Lite Bloom cartridge; American Crafts rub-on alphabet Kate font; SU So Tweet chipboard,SU flower punch and SU heart punch; Augusta Green and Ponderosa Pine card stock; and foam tape.

* No birds were harmed in the creation of this card.

Challenges:
Cricut Cardz - valentine for a man
Cards for Men - valentine/love
Charisma Cards - valentine/love
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge - whateva!
The Paper Players - anything goes
Marks Finest Papers - Valentine card
Prairie Fairy Friday - For a sweetheart
Delightful Sketches Challenges - Include a heart