Bat Boxes Photographed in a Light Box

In my upcoming September 19th class, I'm going to demo how to make a light box to professionally photograph any item with an infinity background as shown in these two photos.


I made these little treat boxes to hold a wrapped Hershey's Nugget based on an idea I saw online. I've modified the original idea so I can crank out these Halloween treat boxes using my Walk in My Garden Cricut cartridge (see page 129 in the booklet, use the shift key and cut on size one and a half). To begin, cut out two identical shapes from the same medium weight DSP (Designer Scrapbook Paper). This Cricut envelope shape has one flap that is larger than the other three. Cut off 1/4" from the end of each of the three smaller flaps on both DSP pieces as shown by the red arrows below. Using a bone folder, fold in the flaps on all four sides. Punch a 1/2" circle in the center of the larger flap on both DSP pieces. On one of the DSP pieces, place adhesive on all flaps EXCEPT the larger flap as shown by the red arrows below. (I used Crystal Effects for the adhesive.) 

Join the two pieces by adhering the flaps opposite the larger flaps with the holes, then adhere the remaining flaps by bringing up the sides and placing the box base on a flat surface. Be sure all sides are properly aligned when adhering the flaps so that the box will stand up properly. Cut a 1 1/16" length of the same DSP and adhere it around a Hershey's Nugget. 

Place the wrapped candy inside the box

and secure the box handles with a piece of ribbon.

You can find this wonderful gold-edged black satin ribbon at

Scrapbook Island in their HUGE ribbon section!

The Details:

Stamp: Batty for You (Stampin' Up)

DSP: La Creme Matstock (DCWV)

Punch: Bat Punch (Martha Stewart)

Mini gems for the bat eyes: Scrapbook Island

To see the original project, click HERE

My Sons' Favorite Cookies!

In my Paper Crafters' Tea Party classes at Scrapbook Island, I always provide a tasting and recipe for a Hom Family favorite recipe. To promote my classes, here's a recipe below that tops the list for my sons' favorite cookies (and was the favorite cookie of their tennis teams as well). Because there are no eggs in this recipe, the dough can be eaten before cooking (if you're like me and LOVE raw cookie dough)! For my next Paper Crafters' Tea Party Class in September, I'll have a tasting and recipe for a dip to serve with fruit slices that is to die for! It's a dip that will be certain to make all of your guests VERY happy this Fall Season!

HERSHEY'S KISSES COOKIES

MAKES ABOUT 4 DOZEN COOKIES

Ingredients:

1 bag (10 oz.) Hershey’s Kisses

or Kisses with Almonds

1 cup (2 sticks – 8 oz.) butter

1/2 cup (3 ½ oz.) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (4 oz.) packed light brown sugar

1 t. vanilla

2 (10 oz.) cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (6 oz.) mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Plus for the Chocolate Drizzle:

1/4 cup (1 ½ oz.) mini semi

sweet chocolate chips

1 T. Crisco shortening

Directions:

Heat oven to 375º F. Remove foil wrappers from kisses. Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla until well blended. Add flour and blend until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Mold a teaspoon of dough around each chocolate kiss, covering completely. Shape into balls, and with the point of the kiss facing up, place onto a cookie sheet lined with Release or non-stick foil and bake for 10 minutes or until set. Only the edges will be golden brown - do not over bake! (See the picture above.) Remove foil sheets to the counter and off of the cookie sheets. Let cookies cool slightly. Remove cookies to a cooling rack. Fold foil sheets over in half and line up cookies side-by-side. Drizzle chocolate across tops using the handle end of a fork (see recipe below). Transfer to fridge or freezer to set chocolate drizzle. Remove after 10 minutes.

Chocolate Drizzle:

Place 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips and

1 T. shortening in small microwave-safe bowl or cup.

Microwave on high for 30 secs. – stir well. 

Continue to microwave at 20 sec. intervals - stirring in between intervals -

until chocolate is melted and smooth when stirred.

Ounces are given in the recipe for those who have

discovered the joy of baking with a digital baker’s scale.
I'll be giving a how-to demo on digital scales
in my November class!

Alice's Birthday Card AND Contest Won!

Many of you know my SUPER talented card making friend, Alice, and it was her birthday last week. I wanted to make her a special card because I knew she would appreciate every little detail. This is a surprisingly quick way to make the ever popular side step cards. I'll be showing this simple technique in my September 19th Paper Crafters' Tea Party Class so you can make them to WOW your friends and family!

....and yippee!....over the weekend I found out that I had won 1st place in a challenge contest by Really Reasonable Ribbons for this card: 

FOR THE DIRECTIONS to make this card, click HERE.

Variations on a Black and White Theme

Here are a few variations on my all black and white card posted HERE. I used SU's Garden Collage stamp set (retired), but you could try a black and white card with just a few parts of any stamp highlighted with color. It makes for a quick and easy card and spotlights the most important aspects of the stamped image. 

Color was added with the following Copic markers for the sunflower:

and for the butterfly:

...and finally...Crystal Stickles were added to the butterfly wings along the veins to add some bling to the final appearance.


Be sure to visit the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog and their current black and white challenge for more inspiration by clicking HERE or check out their current challenge at http://reasonableribbon.blogspot.com and click on the current challenge box in the upper left corner.

Nestibilities: Small Classic Scallop Rectangles, Small Classic Rectangles and Labels 4
Sizzix: Square Lattice Embossing Folder (A Stampin' Up exclusive) 

20,000 Hits in 4 Months!

It's time for some...drum roll please....
SUPER SWEET BLOG CANDY!!! 
I can't thank all of you enough for visiting my new blog here and for attending my classes!
To show my appreciation....
I'm having TWO drawings! 

DRAWING NUMBER ONE for those who subscribe or follow my blog, the winner will receive a package mailed to you filled with approximately $25 worth of paper crafting embellishments plus the card shown below, and...

DRAWING NUMBER TWO for those who register and attend my September 19th Tea Party Class at Scrapbook Island (408-978-8900), you will be entered into a special drawing for this collectible made in England Wedgwood Peter Rabbit bowl below worth approximately $50 plus the card shown above!

THESE TWO RANDOM DRAWINGS will take place on Sunday, September 19th...so...sign up to receive my blog updates (in right column), and if you live in the Bay Area, call Scrapbook Island (408-978-8900) to sign up for my next Paper Crafters' Tea Party Class. (See class details in the right column.)


MANY THANKS to all of the paper crafters who have stopped by my blog for a visit! I hope you found a little something here that might have sparked your creativity and made you smile 

This card was made with the Stampin' Up Garden Collage (retired) set.

CAN YOU PART WITH SOME OF YOUR RIBBONS?!

Here's a card I made from an idea presented in the May/June 2010 Paper Crafts magazine. I am the absolute Queen of ribbon collecting and this card was a perfect way  to put a (very slight) dent in my stash of ribbons! (See a portion of my ribbon infatuation HERE.) 

To create your own version of this card, start with a piece of 2" x 6" long black cardstock then: 

• Fold one end of a 2" long segment of ribbon in half and cut at an angle to create a banner-type end on the ribbon --- This step requires very sharp scissors!
• Adhere a piece of red sticky tape along the back of the 2" long piece of ribbon
• Pull off the protective covering on the tape and adhere your ribbon to the black cardstock so that the ribbon end (opposite the banner end) hangs over the edge of the black cardstock just slightly AND there is about 1/4" of black space from the top edge (so you have some room to adjust the black cardstock strip when you adhere it to the card front at the end)
• Use the edge of the black cardstock and your sharp scissors to trim the ribbon exactly to the edge
• Add additional ribbon strips approx. 1/8" apart until you get near the end of the length of black cardstock NOTE: Check the length of the black cardstock against your card length to see where to stop the last piece of ribbon (You may need to trim your card slightly to achieve ideal spacing on that last ribbon.)
• Adhere the black cardstock to your card, trim it at the top and bottom as needed and add additional embellishments as shown

Experiment with different patterns, textures, colors, widths and ribbon with text!
...and a big shout out to REALLY REASONABLE RIBBONS.... I just entered this card into their latest ribbon challenge! Visit their cool blog and store websites at:

http://reasonableribbon.blogspot.com

and

http://www.reasonableribbon.com