Valentine goodies

A bit late, but here is the little goodie bag I put together for my children for Valentine's day. Purchased cellophane treat bags filled with Hershey chocolates, chocolate covered fortune cookies, chocolate cherry bark, and white chocolate covered pretzels. Then to jazz it up a bit, I put together a few hearts cut out on my Cricut Expression, taped them to a lollipop stick and used my Martha Stewart fringe scissors to cut a band of silver metallic paper to create the streamer effect. I think they came out pretty darn cute! The idea could translate to many holidays or occasions... little bears for a baby shower, bunnies or eggs for Easter, stars for the 4th of July etc.

Polar bears and winter...

Life, computer woes and just plain old lack of motivation has made this the first blog post of the year.
My youngest turned 9 last month but didn't have her party until last weekend. So naturally, I made.....yeah....cake....and not just any old cake ( although nothing wrong with that in my cupcake book)....but very, very special ( the kind that always leave me wondering why I thought it would be a good idea to make ) polar bear cupcakes from What's New Cupcake by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson , check it out here: http://www.hellocupcakebook.com/ .
My 12 year old and I spent about four hours decorating these little beauties after which at least a third of the children wouldn't eat ( including the party girl herself) because they have coconut fur.....AUGH! I reminded my daughter, that she does indeed like coconut....she still doesn't believe me.... oh well....more bears for me....

I apologize for the poor quality of the lighting....I couldn't get it right....

A great day in October (part 1 )

Two weeks ago, my friend and I had the privilege of taking classes from the wonderful and talented Wendy Vecchi of Studio 490 fame. Please, if you are unfamiliar with Wendy , Stampers Anonymous or Ranger Ink products...run....do not walk to her website at : http://studio490art.blogspot.com you will be amazed at the creative mind that is Wendy Vecchi. I have been following her blog for quite awhile now and could not wait to sign up for classes at the Queen's Ink : http://www.queensink.com in Savage Maryland. We have no local scrapbooking stores, only chain craft stores so it is quite the treat to visit such a beautiful store that is literally packed to the rafters with treats for the eye as well as every supply needed to carry out any artistic vision. Love the people, love the store... LOVE this hobby.

We signed up to take two classes. The first, a great tag book of techniques.We inked and stamped and perfect pearled our way through four hours of FUN and had some great tags with descriptions of the technique so that we will always know how we made that cool effect.
The second class was a home art piece showcasing Wendy's new line of art parts. This four hour class was smaller and more relaxed. We had lots of stories and laughs shared during these four hours. Not to mention really cool art at the end.

I will post those projects another time. For now, I wanted to get  the photos of her art, and class time and a couple very special photos with her onto this blog for your viewing pleasure.

Here is my friend Wendy ( and partner in scrapping crime), Wendy Vecchi and myself

Wendy was just as cool in person as she appears on her blog. She was very gracious, and fun, sharing some funny stories of her work and a little bit of her personal life with us. I was really thrilled when we went up to say hello and she asked me if I was pixiedust ( my online moniker) from the blog. " Yes" I must have squealed and she gave me a big ole hug. Now that is someone who really does take the time to read her blog comments. It made my day !

Halloween treat

Wilton makes the coolest things....don't you think? Here they have done it again and made these great molds for Halloween....but these are not just mere candy molds...oh no... not at all.... for they contain something very special indeed....in the middle of all that candy coating... is a .... wait for it.....
oreo cookie. Hallelujah.... one more way to get the wonderful chocolate sandwich cookie filled with creme all dressed up for trick or treating....
I'm sorry the photos are so poor.... I couldn't seem to get a decent one....by the time I noticed that they were blurry and glaring....well..... there weren't enough to photograph properly....but aren't you glad SOMEONE thought to take a bite out...ahem....to show you the inside of the cookie?

Quick Halloween tag

Halloween is rapidly approaching. EEEKKKKK! Scary! I have tons of Halloween decorations that have yet to make their yearly appearance. I am behind...as usual...but I did carve out some time to play with  the new Martha Stewart clear stamps.
Background inked with distress inks of mustard seed, dried marigold,wild honey and spiced marmalade. Images stamped with Ranger black archival ink and a little black diamond stickles added the glitz. Black ribbon from Michaels. 

M.I.A.

Well, the start of the school year, a new job, soccer season, and computer problems have all led to a decidedly serious lack of posts... not that I have had much time for creativity....
But....things are changing.... at least creatively.... I have done four scrapbook pages and two cards in the last few days.... YAY me!..... but... what I would like to show you is my youngest child's collage done for school as a way of introducing herself to her classmates and teacher. She could have done a regular old poster, but I thought it might be fun to give her a canvas and let her roll with it  .

 

Canvas background - Tattered Angels glimmer mists, soccer ball- Cricut soccer cartridge, butterfly- Martha Stewart punch, Recollections pearls, Alphabet, dollar store, paper rosette done with Martha Stewart score board and topped with a button.

Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge

This week the challenge over at : http://simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com  was to create a layered piece of art. I saw this great tutorial over at Hero Arts this week and wanted to give it a try.  The bag is made from.... wait for it.... an honest to goodness envelope....I know...I know.... who would have thought? Brilliant I tell you.... here is the link.... You have to see it to believe it!  http://www.heroarts.com/learning/technique.cfm?techID=173

Recipe: plain white envelope inked with distress inks in Victorian velvet and tea dye.

Friends definition stamp: Hero Arts

Mini scroll : Maya Road misted with Olive Vine by Tattered Angels

Flowers: Tattered Florals by Tim Holtz

Memo Pins: Tim Holtz

Gem & Ribbon from Michaels