Creating Me

Happy 65! – Handmade Card

Posted on August 28, 2024 by Anita

Hi friends,

So my husband just had a big birthday! 🥳🎉🥳 Still not sure how we got here so fast?!?!? Of course I had to make him a special birthday card. 😊

Disclosure: Some of the links on my site are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I recently purchased this cute Birthday Balloons die set from Spellbinders. It’s perfect for celebrating all of those milestone birthdays – or really any birthday. 🥳🎉🥳 The die set even includes the little knot for the bottom of the balloons and 3 different string options.

I wanted the card to be happy and bright so I pulled out some fun coordinating patterned papers. I die cut the numbers and little knots from polka dot paper and the strings from orange card stock. To attach the knots and strings to the balloons, I used this Quickie Glue Pen. It works so well for attaching small pieces.

Using the Deckle & Stitches Nesting Dies from Unity Stamp Company, I die cut a piece of birthday patterned paper and layered it to orange card stock. The piece is attached to a white card.

I attached the balloons to the card using foam tape. I stamped the sentiment (my sentiment stamp is no longer available – use your favorite sentiment from your collection) on white card stock with orange ink, die cut it with the same die set, and attached it to the card.

I can see using the Birthday Balloons die set for so many different cards – birthdays, anniversaries, back to school, even Halloween cards (31 with a cute Jack-o-lantern 🎃). I think this will be a fun set to play with. 🙂

Anita

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Mini Canvas Halloween Shelf Sitters

Posted on August 27, 2024 by Anita

Hi friends,

Is it too early to start crafting for Halloween? 🎃 It’s still hot here in Alabama, but (hopefully) Fall temps will show up soon!

These little canvases measure about 4 by 4 inches and are the perfect size for the unfinished wood Halloween ornaments you can find at Dollar Tree. Add a little paint and some scrapbook paper and you can create some cute shelf sitters. 🎃👻

I cut my scrapbook paper to fit the canvas. Using a foam brush, I applied a thin coat of Mod Podge to the canvas and adhered the paper to it.

I painted the Jack-o-lantern and ghost with 2 coats of acrylic paint. To add a little depth, I dry brushed both of them with black acrylic paint.

Fun fact 👻 – while I was dry brushing the ghost, it reminded me of Pig-Pen in It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. 🎃

I attached the Jack-o-lantern and ghost to the canvases using foam tape. I knotted some twine and glued it to the ornaments to cover up the little hole on the top. Then I added Dew Drops and sequins to finish them off.

I think they turned out so cute! 🎃👻 They are the perfect size for your tiered tray, to tuck onto your mantel along with your other Halloween decor, or to add to your coffee table tray.

Where will you put your Mini Canvas Halloween Shelf Sitters? 🎃👻

Anita

Posted in Decor, Fall, Halloween | Tagged Decor, Fall, Halloween | 1 Comment

Crochet Thermal Stitch Trivet/Hot Pad

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Anita

Hi friends,

Did you see my Crochet Thermal Stitch Coasters in this post? I had so much fun making them that I stitched up some matching trivets/hot pads. 😊

The Thermal Stitch is such a fun variation on single crochet. It creates a beautiful texture and thickness to your project.

Are you new to the Crochet Thermal Stitch? Okie Girl Bling ‘n’ Things has a great tutorial for this stitch on her blog.

For my trivets, I used I Love This Cotton Yarn in Royalty with a J/6mm crochet hook. To make them extra thick, I crocheted them holding 2 strands of yarn together. 🧶 You will want to be sure to use 100% cotton yarn so they will be able to handle the heat!

The super easy pattern is below along with a link to a free PDF if you’d like to easily print it.

Crochet Thermal Stitch Trivet/HotPad

Cotton Yarn (size 4) – I used I Love This Cotton in Royalty (approximately 3 ounces)

J/6mm crochet hook

Stitches used in US terms:

Chain – ch

Single Crochet – sc

Thermal Single Crochet – thsc

Back Loop Only – blo

Note: Trivet is stitched holding 2 strands of yarn together.

Chain 21.

Row 1: sc in back bump of 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across. ch 1, turn. (20 stitches)

Row 2: sc in blo of each stitch across. ch 1, turn. (20 stitches)

Rows 3: thsc across. ch 1, turn. (20 stitches)

Repeat Row 3 until piece measures about 7 inches.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Finished trivet measures approximately 7 by 7 inches.

Here’s the link to the free PDF…

Crochet Thermal Stitch Trivet/Hot Pad

The Crochet Thermal Stitch Trivet/Hot Pad is great to protect your counter or table from hot dishes. They are also flexible enough for taking hot dishes out of the oven or microwave.

These will make great gifts! You can make them in any color to match any kitchen.

Anita

Posted in Crochet, Gifts | Tagged Crochet, Gifts | 1 Comment

Birthday Gnomes – Handmade Cards

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Anita

Hi friends,

I found this cute Gnome Birthday clear stamp set on clearance at Hobby Lobby and knew it needed to come home with me! 😊 It seems to be discontinued from Spellbinders ☹️, but you can easily change the stamp to any fun birthday image in your collection to make a similar card.

I made simple cards using both the boy and girl gnomes that are great to send to any of the little ones in your life – or anyone who loves gnomes!

I stamped the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white card stock and colored them with Copic markers. You can see the colors I used in the photos below.

I die cut around the images using the Deckle & Stitches Nesting Dies from Unity Stamp Company and layered them to coordinating card stock die cut with the same set. The sentiment is stamped with matching ink and also die cut with the same set.

To add a little shine to the balloons, I applied Diamond Glaze and let it dry completely.

To make the card, I attached a piece of patterned paper to a white card. The gnome piece is attached to the card with foam tape and the sentiment is adhered at an angle.

These are simple little cards, but oh so cute!! 🩵🩷

Anita

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Sweet Day – August 2024 Christmas Card

Posted on August 20, 2024 by Anita

Hi friends,

I’m sharing my monthly Christmas card creation for August today. 🎄 I make a few of each monthly design to build up my stash for the holidays. It is so helpful when things get busy!

You can find my other monthly creations here… January, February, March, April, May, June and July.

This month’s card was inspired by {BYSHC} Sketch Challenge 48 on the Build Your Stash Holiday Cardmakers Facebook page. You can find so much inspiration on that page – not only for holiday cards, but the sketches are great inspiration for any cards!

My cute gingerbread cookie stamp is from the Sweet Treat Christmas set from Unity Stamp Company. The sentiment is also from Unity – It was part of a grab bag, so I’m not sure which set it’s from.

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on white card stock and colored it with the Copic marker colors in the photo below. I die cut around it with the Scallops & Circles Nesting Dies from Unity and layered it to red card stock die cut with the same set.

To make the background of the card, I cut 1/2 inch strips of 3 different papers and attached them to a 5 inch by 3-3/4 inch piece of white card stock at an angle. Once they were all adhered, I trimmed off any excess around the edges and attached the piece to a 5-1/2 inch by 4 inch piece of green card stock.

The gingerbread image is attached to the background piece, with the right side over the edge of the background piece. The excess from the circle is trimmed off and then the piece is attached to a white card.

The sentiment is stamped with red ink on a strip of white card stock and attached to the card with foam tape.

This is a fun layout that can be used for all kinds of cards – not just Christmas. 😉 Just change the image, papers, and sentiment for a birthday, thinking of you, or even a sympathy card.

Anita

Posted in Cards, Christmas, Stamping | Tagged Cards, Christmas, Stamping | 4 Comments

Crochet Thermal Stitch Coasters

Posted on August 16, 2024 by Anita

Hi friends,

These Crochet Thermal Stitch Coasters are super easy to make! The Thermal Stitch is a variation of single crochet and makes the coasters nice and thick. If you need a tutorial on how to work up this stitch, Okie Girl Bling ‘n’ Things has a great video tutorial here.

I used the Thermal Stitch along with I Love This Cotton Yarn in Royal and an H/5mm crochet hook to stitch up my coasters. The super easy pattern is below. One thing I love about the Thermal Stitch is that you really don’t need to add any border around your finished piece! 🙂

Crochet Thermal Stitch Coasters

Cotton Yarn (size 4) – I used I Love This Cotton Yarn in Royalty

H/5mm crochet hook

Stitches used in US terms:

Chain – ch

Single Crochet – sc

Thermal Single Crochet – thsc

Back Loop Only – blo

Chain 17.

Row 1: sc in back bump of 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across. ch 1, turn. (16 stitches)

Row 2: sc in blo of each stitch across. ch 1, turn. (16 stitches)

Rows 3: thsc across. ch 1, turn. (16 stitches)

Repeat Row 3 until piece measures about 4 inches.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Here’s a free PDF if you’d like to easily print the pattern…

Crochet Thermal Stitch Coasters

These coasters work up so quickly! Tie a set of 4, 6, 8, or more 🙂 with a pretty ribbon for a great hostess gift or Christmas gift. They can be stitched up in any color to match any decor.

Don’t forget to pin this post to your crochet Pinterest board for later!

Anita

Posted in Crochet, Gifts | Tagged Crochet, Gifts | 2 Comments

Just Because – Handmade Card

Posted on August 14, 2024 by Anita

Hi friends,

I have a super quick and easy card to share with you today. There’s no coloring at all on this card so it comes together quickly and the background paper adds a pop of color. 🙂

The flower vase image is from the Simply Blessed stamp set from Unity Stamp Company. The sentiment is from the Let Your Wishes Fly stamp set also from Unity. That particular set is discontinued, use your favorite sentiment or none at all. 🙂

I stamped the image with Memento Rich Cocoa ink on white card stock. Using the Deckle & Stitches Nesting Die Set from Unity, I die cut around the image. The top and edges of the image are cut off – I just made sure that the die was lined up so the image was cut just below the bottom of the vase.

I used my Misti stamping tool to line up the sentiment at an angle on the stamped piece. I stamped it using the same Memento Rich Cocoa ink several times to get it dark enough. The stamped piece is then layered to brown card stock die cut from the same die set.

I added patterned paper to white card stock. The paper is from the Simply Blessed Paper Pack also from Unity. The stamped piece is attached to the card with foam tape. To finish it off, I added 3 dots of Nuvo Vintage Drops in the color Peppermint Candy.

I love when a simple card turns out so pretty! 🥰

Anita

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Butterfinger Cake

Posted on August 13, 2024 by Anita

Hi friends,

We were invited to a potluck recently and I signed up to bring a dessert but wasn’t sure what I was going to make. I had heard that this Butterfinger Cake recipe from Passionate Penny Pincher was really good so I decided to try it.

The cake is made using only 5 ingredients (plus what you need to bake the cake) and it’s super easy to make. You can find the full recipe here.

Here’s what the cake looks like as you are assembling it. Oh my goodness! So much yumminess! Just a little tip for chopping up the Butterfingers – I put them in a large ziptop bag and used my meat tenderizer mallet to break them into pieces.

This is the cake ready to eat! Just store it in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.

Since I took the cake to our potluck, I wasn’t able to get a picture of a piece cut from it. But it seemed to be a hit. 😊

I think this cake would be amazing with chopped Snickers bars in place of the Butterfingers, too! 😋

Anita

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Crochet Pineapple Scrubby

Posted on August 9, 2024 by Anita

Hi friends,

Look how cute these Crochet Pineapple Scrubbies are! 🍍🍍 The pattern is from Okie Girl Bling ‘n’ Things and you can find it here on her website.

The pineapple scrubbies are stitched up using Yarn Bee Scrub-Ology Scrub It yarn from Hobby Lobby in Lemon and Green with a J/6mm crochet hook. They are stitched using the Thermal Crochet Stitch. Kylee from Okie Girl Bling ‘n’ Things has a great video tutorial on crocheting this stitch if you need it.

These scrubbies work up really quickly and will look so cute in your kitchen! They make fun gifts, too. 🙂 🍍🍍

Anita

Posted in Crochet, Gifts | Tagged Crochet, Gifts | Leave a comment

You Make Life Sweeter – Birthday Card

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Anita

Hi friends,

This You Make Life Sweeter Birthday Card just makes me happy! 🙂 The colors are so bright and fun and I love the sentiment.

The stamp set is called Life is Sweeter with Treats from Unity Stamp Company. Sadly, this set is retired. ☹️ If you don’t have this set in your collection, I hope the layout on this card will inspire you to create a fun birthday card with your favorite birthday stamps.

I stamped the image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with the Copic markers in the photo below. I punched around the image with a 2-inch circle punch and layered it to a 2.5-inch scalloped circle punched from orange card stock.

To make the card, I added a piece of patterned paper to a white card. Using the Scallops & Banners Nesting Dies from Unity Stamp Company, I die cut a banner from turquoise card stock and green patterned paper. I layered them together and attached them to the card using foam tape. Then I attached the stamped image over the banner using foam tape.

The sentiment is stamped with orange ink on white card stock. I die cut around it using the Scalloped & Stitched Sentiment Nesting Dies from Unity and attached it to the banner using foam tape on the side that attaches directly to the card.

Celebrating the people we love makes our lives so much sweeter!

Anita