PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: SAB Stampin' Up and theVery Best of Pinterest Pins

I finally had time to make up some thank you cards using my new Avant-Garden set from SU:

There were many pins to use for inspiration and these were the first cards I made with this set:

 

Inside View of Left Panel

When I was all done with the card above, I flipped it over to add my HOMMARK sticker on the back and the card touched the green ink pad by the green arrow - ARG!...so I had to turn this accident into a chance to use some creativity to cover it! An extra leaf would have thrown off the balance, but you can see what I ended up doing below. I was VERY happy how it all turned out!

The cut out flower gave the card an added embellishment!

...and one last card made:

  

Now here are the pins for this set:

Original Pin HERE

Original Pin HERE

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Baby Cards and the Very Best of Pinterest Pin

One of my VERY best friends just became a grandma to her second grandson, so I made this card to congratulate her:

Here was my inspiration:

Original Pin HERE

These cards use the label punch from SU.

....and another dear friend moved to a new

house in Arkansas, set up a wonderful shop

in his garage and is also having surgery soon...

so here's the card I made him:

It's a variation of a card-in-box and this

was my inspiration:

Original Pin HERE

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Chocolate Rules and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

I saw an idea on Pinterest that caught my eye for obvious reasons - haha!

 

Original Pin HERE

When I started reading the rules, I had some LOL moments and knew I had to try a version of this idea for my college roommate, Linda:

Original Pin HERE

I had a beautiful piece of 3D floral paper saved in my paper collection for years, and using my computer, I made this version:

Linda loved it and I love how it can be modified for all sorts of gift giving occasions! Here are a few more versions:

 ....and this photo shows one with a smaller chocolate bar from Trader Joe's. I photographed it with the larger Hershey bar version to show the comparison. I like the larger size version best.

Additional Hershey bar paper craft pins include these clever ideas:

Original Pin HERE

Original Pin HERE

Original Pin HERE

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Mini Gift Boxes and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

I LOVE this versatile favor and mini tote box from Pinterest that will hold two fun size candy bars or a small gift.

The way the sides criss cross really adds to the look!
Click HERE for the Original Pin
OR
tinyurl.com/minitotebox

Dawn has a wonderful how-to video for this box, too.

I had fun making several fall and Christmas versions:

The "sweet" oval is raised with foam squares

and was the oval punched out at the box top.

Fabulous Friend Tag Stamp:

Oval All by Stampin' Up

On the next version, I added a little flower to the tag:

It turned out to be the perfect touch!

....and here are a few more favor and
gift ideas I recently pinned:

For giving cash or a check this Christmas:


Original Pin HERE

For a Halloween Hershey Bar Treat with Video Tutorial:


Original Pin HERE and Blog Post HERE

...and modify this candy holder idea for all occasions:


Original Pin HERE

The same project idea with a Christmas theme:


Original Pin HERE

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS:Baby Card and More

My college roommate Linda was in town and she needed a baby card for her daughter's shower. We checked on Pinterest and picked this card to case:

Click HERE for Original Pin

...and here's the card she made:

I also wanted to send some blank note cards for a family friend who just moved to an assisted living apartment. She says that it's hard to ask others to get note cards and stamps for them...so now I have a wonderful excuse for making up a set of cards with stamped envelopes every couple of weeks for this dear friend who was like a second mother to me growing up! I saw this card on Pinterest:

 Click on the photo or click HERE for the original pin

I kept it simple and modified this card to quickly create these cards with my SU thinlet die:

PIN FRIDAY FAVS: Last Post for Card in a Box

In a previous PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS post, I featured CARD IN A BOX projects. This past weekend, I finally had a chance to make up several of them for Mother's Day, a birthday and a get well card. Here's what I made and I have to say...WARNING!! Making these boxes can be addicting!

Back View

Jolee's bee stickers and their BLING flowers made the construction of this box go a lot quicker. The flowers have adhesive on the back and after I attached them to my handmade stems, I used face powder applied to the backs of the flowers which instantly takes away the stickiness! (The adhesive has to be removed so that the flowers don't stick to the back flap when it's collapse and placed in an envelope.)

My original post with instructions can be found HERE, but the basic measurements are as follows:

One 5.5" x 8.5" piece of  DSP:

Along the 5.5" side score at 2 3/4"

and

along the 8.5 side score at

1/2", 2.5", 4.5" and 6.5"

OR

2", 4", 6" and 8"

(Depending on the amount of the design

 desired for the back panel,

you may want to start your

scoring with 1/2 " or 2")

 ...and the nicest thing about this version --- these boxes collapse and fit into a standard A2 envelope!

I did make a modification to the instructions:  For the 3 flaps that open on the sides - NOT the very back flap - I trimmed those 3 flaps so they all measured 2" square as shown below so the base of the box can be seen better and I also liked the scale of them compared to the base and back panel:

Here are a few more pics I took to show how the center 3" pieces are inserted. I used 1/2" red sticky tape on the 1/2" flaps and I placed the 3" pieces about a 1/4" into the box so they wouldn't show as much:

I also made up an insert with a picture to include with the card that tells the recipient how to set up their box after they take the card out of the envelope. It says:

This is a card in a box!

Open it up and bend it to the

left to form a perfectly square

box with the three smaller

flaps extending out.

....and look at this beautiful creation from Pinterest:

Click HERE for the Original Pin