Springy Pillow Gifts Part 2

Here's more of the pillow gifts that my retreat goers received. I wanted  to bring a little spring into the end of winter so I had flowers on my mind when I created.

I got this idea from my good friend Barbara Welch from a swap a got two years ago when I last saw her. Inside is a nail file. I scored a piece of Designer Series Paper to fit my nail file, added an oval half punch out and simple embellishments.

I love this project. I used the Bow Builder punch to create these little flowers. Just punch 7 bows and adhere them to a circle punch out. Then, fold the bow parts over and adhere in a circle. I used 7 backs and 5 bows on most of them. Sometimes 6 bows looked better. Those are mint M&M's in the bag. They are larger than regular M&M's and in the right color! 

 These journals were in my mind before I bought the other notepads. Everyone can always use a little notepad, so I included them anyway. I used my Momento Ink and Blendabilities to color, but our markers would look great, too.  The washi tape just added a bit of fun. I think it was too try in my room because it pulled up sometimes on the edges. I had to add a little adhesive sometimes. I also used the Basic Hodgepodge Clips with an added Washi Tape Flag on them all. The Adventure Awaits Stamp Set was perfect for sentiments on these journals!

Oh, and I made little pockets inside with the Best Yet Project Life Mini Card Collection.  Our next retreat is in August! I cannot wait.

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Happy Creativity!

You're the best!

I love a clean and simple card and this one is perfectly me:

Wondering where that Designer Series Paper came from? Well, it not DSP! I used a card from my This Day Project Life Mini Card Collection, which I got for FREE during Sale-a-bration, which ends March 31.

The You're the Best saying is from Simply Wonderful, which I haven't been giving enough ink time to, this season. I made the flowers with Stampin' Up! Buttons, which could have come from the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack or my Brights Assortment. I mixed them up the other day and now can't tell them apart. The little leaves were halves of the Itty Bitty Flower Punch. 

The sketch came from, you guessed it, the As You See It Challenge this week!

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Happy Creativity!

Sara

Pillow Gifts, Spring SU Style.

One of the projects that kept me busy and not blogging in early March and late February were these beauties!

The cellophane bags I put the baskets in allowed my retreat guests to see all the goodies from afar (and appreciate them).  I used the Berry Basket Bigz Die to create these cute baskets. My sister loved them so much, she wants to use them as wedding favors. Rock it!

Uncovered you can see the goodies:

Included is a flower magnet with a stem of Mint M&M's. Truffles wrapped in green. A pad of paper. A journal. An emory board. A matching pencil. 

The berry baskets were very easy to create. I used my Stampin' Up! Handheld Stapler to staple my bottom layers together (You can't tell from the picture, but I used a layer of Lost Lagoon and a layer of flowery Designer Series Paper underneath. As the recipient unpacked it, the paper sneaked through). I then stapled the band to the tops and Voila! a sturdy little basket. 

I used my fringe scissors and Garden Green cardstock to create the grass. That way, it matches my paper. 

The butterflies added an element of whimsy, and were attached to the little treat bag.

I used Stampin' Up! Polka Dot Treat Bags along with a Doily, a ribbon, and a Butterfly Framelit to store a notepad and pencil, which match, but I found them at different stores (Lucky me.) 

Easy, Peasy. But very cute.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Happy Creativity!

Sara

Changes Ahead: Blendabilities and MDS Discontinued

Sad, but true. The Blendabilities Product Line has been discontinued permanently by Stampin' Up! There has been a problem in the building process where little holes appear in the tip. After time, some of the markers have dried up. The fail rate at the manufacturer rose to 40% and Stampin' Up! was seeing as much after production. The problem cannot be resolved with the current production. Stampin' Up! has acknowledged the disappointment we face with no more alcohol markers in Stampin' Up! colors, but Stampin' Up!'s high standards need to be upheld by any product with the Stampin' Up! name. Hopefully, the innovative research and development folks at Stampin' Up! will find some bigger and better products for us!

If you bought some Blendabilities during Sale-a-bration you will be receiving a refund. If you earned Blendabilities as Sale-a-bration items, then Stampin' Up! will exchange. Good news! There are new items available during the last two weeks of Sale-a-bration to replace the Blendabilities.

As a company, Stampin' Up! evaluates programs regularly for viablity. Unfortunately, the My Digital Studio program wasn't viable and growing as hoped. My Digital Studio will no longer be available after May 31, 2015. This includes access to the Digital Downloader, Print Services, my Digital Studio.net, and Support Help. Be sure to download any files you have purchased and save them to a hard drive so that you can access them in the future. This includes saving them in the versions you'd like--Mac for other software, Mac for MDS, Windows for other software, Windows for MDS. You can still purchase until May 31, 2015. 

If you have any questions, let me know. 

Sara

A Frozen Party, SU style!

I've  been busy stampin' scrappin', retreatin', teachin', and sleepin'.  Even though there's been a Lily Ink Pad blog drought, I have many great things to share over the next few weeks. Check me out on odd days! Speaking of odd, I called myself odd the other day and my 6th grade students didn't get what I meant. It's not longer a cool word! Ug! I'm old!

Back to the good stuff:

 She loved the banners. Who wouldn't? I used Stampin' Up! paper, Whisper White, Brushed Silver, Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper. I also used my new Silhouette Portrait to cut out the letters, snowflakes, and banners. I can hook up my favorite MDS SVG files to it to cut out whatever I want! I didn't get that figured out this time, but I will!

 I printed the banners from the internet. Clare loved the Arendelle picture. She squealed. One of many. She's just like me that way. See the little snowflakes? I cut out a gagillion snowflakes and then used my glue dots to stick them to the woodwork. SO MUCH FUN!

We even cutout large snowflakes and hung them on the balloons. My thrifty and creative sister used the snowflakes to make thank-you notes. Very cool. 

Want to see how happy she really was?

 Don and Clare chatting after cake.

 The pinata spoils:

See the crown? She wore it all day. Just a simple paper one. But she loved it. The cape, helped.

Thanks! Stampin' Up! for helping me make her day A-Mah-Zing!

Sara

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2015

Here is my St. Patrick's contribution for this year (for my Stampin' Celebrations group).

I struggled with this one, as I wanted a Spring will Come kind of feel to it. In the end a simple design element made the card work for me. Guess which one!

Sahara Sand is turning into one of my most used colors. I guess that's the nature girl in me.

I used the As You See It Sketch Challenge for this week for my inspiration.

I used the stem on my clover for the second flowery element. I especially love that little touch on this card. It's a unique idea to me.

As always, have fun!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Happy Creativity!

Sara