Creating Me

Happy Day Card

Posted on June 13, 2017 by Anita

Do you need a quick birthday card? This one stamps up in just minutes!

The stamps I used are from the Your Presents set and Perfect Pairings set by Stampin’ Up. They are older stamp sets that are discontinued, but I hope you will use this card as inspiration to create your own using the stamps you already have!

I stamped the gifts and bows with orange and turquoise ink directly onto a white card. I stamped the sentiment with orange ink on white card stock, punched it with a scalloped oval punch, and inked the edges with turquoise ink. It’s attached to the card with foam tape.

And that’s it! So quick. So easy. Just a few minutes and you have a cute card ready to put in the mail!! Change the colors or the sentiment to personalize your card. And, again, use the stamps you already have to make a similar card!

This is the 2nd card of 3 that I’m excited to have published in the Summer 2017 issue of Take Ten magazine. 🙂 You can find the 1st one here. I’ll share the 3rd one soon!

Thanks for stopping by,

Anita

Posted in Cards, Stamping | 1 Comment

Patriotic Garland

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Anita

Here’s a fun Patriotic Garland to make for your mantel or window or anywhere else you might like to hang it!

I found these red, white, and blue twig stars at Hobby Lobby in the 4th of July section. The tag marked them as scatters and fillers, but I thought they would look so cute strung on some twine. The package included 2 sizes of stars with 2 of each color for a total of 12.

I used some off white twine to string the stars, tying a simple knot at the top of each star. And that’s it! Just hang it in your favorite spot. 🙂

A cute little accent to celebrate Independence Day and all Summer long!

Thanks for stopping by,

Anita

Posted in Decor, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Anita

Homemade Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting!! What could be better?!?!? Maybe a few sprinkles on top. 😉

I love cupcakes and this recipe for Chocolate Cupcakes from Scratch by Tastes of Lizzy T is just so yummy! She adds coffee to the batter! Don’t worry if you’re not a coffee drinker – they don’t taste like coffee…it just enhances the flavor of the chocolate. There is a recipe included for Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting with the cupcake recipe which I haven’t tried – but I’m sure it is so very good! Next time… 🙂

This time I chose to use the recipe for Vanilla Buttercream Frosting from Magnolia Bakery. You can find a link to the recipe in my post for Magnolia Bakery’s Vanilla Birthday Cake Cupcakes here – and you will want to try these cupcakes, too – so good!!!

Anyway…back to the chocolate cupcakes…

Here they are ready to pop in the oven. If you don’t have one of these 24-cup cupcake pans, you need to get one! They make baking so much faster and easier. (I got mine at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon making it a great deal.)

Fresh-baked, hot, and my kitchen smells so good…

Here they are with the amazing Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and a few sprinkles…

And a close up…so moist, so chocolatey, so yummy! It was hard to put it down long enough to snap a picture!

These cupcakes are so tasty. My husband said they just might be the best cupcakes he’s ever had…I know your family would enjoy them as a special treat. 🙂

Thanks for stopping by,

Anita

Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Just for You Card

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Anita

Today I want to share another quick and easy card that comes together in just minutes. This color scheme is great for a masculine card – which can sometimes be the one of the hardest to make!

The stamps are all from Stampin’ Up – 3 different sets called Work of Art, Gorgeous Grunge, and Summer Silhouettes (for the lattice background – this set is discontinued 😦 ). I stamped the 3 background stamps with brown ink on a tan card. The order you stamp them in really doesn’t matter. Just overlap them a little when you stamp them. I stamped the sentiment with brown ink on tan card stock, punched it with a circle punch, and lightly inked the edges with brown ink. The circle is attached to the card with foam tape. Then I added 2 clear turquoise gems to the card for a little something extra. 🙂

If you don’t have these particular stamp sets, look at what you do have. You might be surprised at the images you can put together to make a similar card.

Super easy to make! Change up the colors or use sequins or flowers instead of gems. Change the sentiment. This layout can be used for just about any occasion!

And just as a side note… I’m so excited to say that this card is published in the Summer 2017 issue of Take Ten magazine along with 2 others that I’ll share with you soon! 🙂

Thanks for stopping by,

Anita

Posted in Cards, Stamping | 2 Comments

Crochet Simple Striped Dishcloths

Posted on May 30, 2017 by Anita

While perusing Pinterest, I found these fun Simple Striped Dishcloths. They are so cute with the little pop of color, quick to stitch up, and are a great way to use up left over cotton yarn from other projects. You can download the free pattern from Whiskers & Wool here.

I used I Love This Cotton yarn from Hobby Lobby. So far, this is my favorite cotton yarn to work with. It is so soft and comes in tons of colors! I used white for the main color and turquoise, red, and bright green for the stripes.

Crocheted dishcloths make great little gifts. Package them up in a cute basket or tie them with a pretty ribbon. I found this white metal basket at Hobby Lobby and tied it with a striped ribbon…

I love the texture of these dishcloths – they are so pretty! And who doesn’t need a little extra cuteness while washing dishes!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Anita

Posted in Crochet, Gifts, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Chocolate Caramel Bars

Posted on May 26, 2017 by Anita

I found this quick and easy recipe for Chocolate Caramel Bars on Pinterest. Chocolate, caramel, 4 ingredients, 20 minutes…I’m in!!!

Seriously, this is all you need to make these yummy bars! You may have everything you need in your kitchen right now…

This is how they looked fresh out of the oven with the chocolate all melty on top…

And after cooling and ready to eat…

Mine look a little different from the recipe on Butter with a Side of Bread because I may or may not have used a few more chocolate chips on top…because…well…Chocolate!! 😋

These really are simple and easy to make and taste so good!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Anita

Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment

Thinking of You Card

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Anita

This is a great set from Stampin’ Up called Jar of Love – it’s so versatile and can be used for so many different occasions. And there is a matching die set called Everyday Jars Framelits Dies. You can see a Thank You card that I made using this set in this post from a couple of weeks ago.

I made this card for my Mom for Mother’s Day.

I first stamped the largest jar in the set on a white card stock panel (for the front of the card) with brown ink and stamped it a second time on another piece of white card stock. Then I die cut the second stamped jar using the framelits die. I placed the die cut image over the image on the white panel and stamped the greenery over both layers so the stems would be in the die cut jar. I inked my stamp with green ink and stamped my first image, then without re-inking the stamp, I stamped the second image.

After removing the die cut jar from the panel, I stamped the burlap ribbon with light brown ink on the jar (over the green stems) and colored the jar with a light turquoise Copic marker. The die cut jar is attached over the stamped jar on the white panel with foam tape.

I stamped the flowers with 2 shades of terra cotta ink, die cut them, and attached them to the white panel, overlapping them and using foam tape for the one in the front. The edges of the panel are lightly sponged with the darker terra cotta ink. The sentiment is stamped with the darker terra cotta ink, too. The bow is stamped with the darker terra cotta ink, die cut, and attached to the jar. I attached the panel to a green card and added 3 dew drops to the corner (enamel dots or gems would work great, too).

Mother’s Day, Birthday, Thank You, Thinking of You…this set is great for so many things!

Thanks for stopping by,

Anita

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Gryffindor Colors Crochet Scarf

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Anita

A very special girl graduated from high school this month. 🎓

I wanted to make her a little something special and, since she is a huge Harry Potter fan, what could be better than a scarf made in Gryffindor colors?

I used Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Burgundy and Gold with a size H hook. The scarf is done in single crochet. I started by chaining 31. Then single crochet in the second chain from the hook and in each remaining chain – 30 single crochet. I stitched 15 rows of Burgundy and then 2 rows of Gold. I continued this pattern until my scarf measured about 72 inches, making sure to end the scarf with 15 rows of Burgundy. I added about 4 inches of fringe to each end. I used about 1and 1/2 (7 ounce) skeins of the Burgundy and just a small amount of the Gold yarn. The scarf may by a bit stiff when you are finished, but after washing it on the delicate cycle with fabric softener and drying it on low with a dryer sheet it will soften up nicely.

Don’t let the Muggles get you down!

Thanks for stopping by,

Anita

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Hand Stamped Flour Sack Towels

Posted on May 15, 2017 by Anita

I love the look of stamped flour sack towels and thought it would be fun to try making my own. I found this package of 5 at Walmart for $4.34 – a great price in case I messed them up. 😉

The first thing you need to do is to wash and dry the towels. Wash and dry them without fabric softener or dryer sheets. Then you’ll need to iron them. I know, not my favorite thing either, but it’s something you need to do. 🙂

I got out my Memento Luxe Ink for Mixed Media and some of my foam flower stamps.

Then just have fun! I stamped a border on one edge of each towel using various flower stamps and different ink colors. I put paper towels under my flour sack towels to protect my counter not thinking about the fact that the paper towels had a texture to them. I kind of liked the way it added a little pattern to some of the flowers. If you don’t want that, just use plain paper. The ink really didn’t go through the fabric, but better to be safe than sorry!

After the ink has dried (which doesn’t take long), you will need to heat set the images so they won’t fade away the first time you wash the towels! You’ll need to get out your iron again (I’m sorry!!) along with an old towel or piece of fabric to put over the stamped area of the towel. Turn your iron on high with NO steam. Place your old towel over the stamped towel and iron for 3 to 5 minutes. You’ll need to do this on the front and the back of the towel. This should set the ink and then your towels are ready to use. I haven’t washed my towels yet, but I did get them wet and the ink did not run at all. Seems like all that ironing was worth it! 🙂

Here are the finished towels…

You could stamp a border on both ends or randomly stamp the entire towel. Using kitchen themed stamps would make cute towels. And you don’t have to limit yourself to using just foam stamps – I think rubber stamps and even clear stamps would work great! And if you have fabric paint instead of fabric ink go ahead and use that. Just don’t forget to heat set your images no matter what you use!

Thanks for stopping by,

Anita

Posted in Gifts, Stamping | 7 Comments

Graduation Card

Posted on May 12, 2017 by Anita

It’s that time of year again – lots of high school and college grads to celebrate! Here’s a simple card that you can make for all of those special ones starting a new chapter in their lives. 🎓

I dry embossed the graduation cap on black paper that is white on the back and lightly sanded the raised edges to highlight the cap. (Here’s a great tutorial on how to dry emboss.) I trimmed it close and rounded the corners.

This is the stencil from Dreamweaver Stencils that I used. I’m not sure it is still available, but a graduation cap stamp would also work. Here’s a simple stamp available at Hobby Lobby. You could stamp it with Versamark ink on black card stock and emboss it with white embossing powder. Or stamp it with black ink on white card stock, trim close, and layer it to black card stock before attaching to the card.

I embossed a panel of white card stock with the Dotted Lattice embossing folder from Taylored Expressions. I attached a strip of “congrats” washi tape from the Target Dollar Spot and then attached the panel to a white card. The graduation cap is attached to the card with foam tape. I added some gold sequins for a little bling.

This is a super quick card to make if you need several. Best wishes to all those special grads!! 🎓

Thanks for stopping by,

Anita

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