PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: More Thank Yous and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

I needed a fairly quick thank you card and here's one that caught my eye:

Original Pin HERE...and
here's my CASED version:

...and here are a few more favorite
THANK YOU pins:

Original Pin HERE
This would make a nice autumn or Thanksgiving
card by switching the leaves to brown and the berries
to a lovely shade of orange ^_^

Original Pin HERE
So simple with loads of white space...love it!
I have a die set of numbers and could quickly get
the "U" by die cutting a zero and snipping off the top!

Original Pin HERE
The white word on black makes for a stunning card!
The patterned piece of paper reminds me of
adult coloring books!

Original Pin HERE
This card makes my heart so happy!
May you make someone happy with your
handmade creations!

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

I'm happy to report that I'm back after a three-month break in blogging! I have been on quite the roller coaster ride during that time, but thankfully, my determined husband is successfully making his way back from having a stroke on April 29th. Life is so precious and I hold that thought in my heart and mind even more now. My family is immeasurably grateful for all the love received from friends and family that cheered us on and up during these past months!

My 93-year-old friend's birthday is this month and I wanted to make this purse for her that I saw on Pinterest, of course!

You can find the tutorial by clicking HERE.

The finished size is quite large and makes a stunning box to hold a little gift or some candy. Here's my version:

White leaf die used was:

FLOURISH THINLITS by Stampin' Up

My mind is spinning with all of the possibilities for purses year-round using holiday double-sided paper, and boy oh! boy, do I have stashes of that kind of paper squirreled away!

Here are a few more versions that I made while everything was pulled out and my craft room already looked like a bomb had gone off!

The scoring is a bit difficult because you can't put your paper on a score board to create the diagonal scoring. I used a straight edge and a ruler on top of some craft foam and that worked beautifully!...but then the light bulb in my head went off and I realized that you can fold up the bottom third of the paper after it's scored and then you can use your Fiskars scoring tool perfectly!

Use the metal wire to line up the score line:

Open the ruler to the right and locate the

score slot at the top of the scorer

to start the score line:

When the Velcro closure of the flap is lifted up, the purse opens like an explosion card and this is what the inside of my purse looks like:

Top Sentiment = My Computer

Lower Sentiment = SU Balloon Adventures

Visit Lizzie's blog HERE to see the step-by-step tutorial pics and view the explosion effect. I hope you make someone happy with your paper creations soon. It sure feels good to be able to do that again!

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: My Latest Projects and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

I needed a WOW! card for the birthday of my son's

GF and decided to do a card in a box:

This is large version that I created using the

following measurements:

DSP Double-Sided:

10 1/2" x 11"

Along the 10 1/2" side score at:

2 1/2", 5", 7 1/2" and 10"

Along the 11" side score at:

5 1/2"

I then trimmed 2" off  three flaps and left the back flap closest to the tab full size to get a nice height for the back flap and a smaller size for the side flaps as shown in my picture above.

 Close Up

For more examples of these types of cards,

Pinterest has a board of them HERE.

I'm so happy to be going to a wedding and shower

for someone who is a landscape architect and

these are the cards I created for her:

Inside the Shower Card

Such a sweet little card that could be

modified for any occasion!

These cards were the source of my

CASED cards:

Original Pin HERE

Original Pin HERE

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: WOW! Cards and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

The inspiration for the card above was

this Pinterest Pin:

Pinterest Pin HERE

I discovered this jar of goodness at Costco

recently and added a tag to give this one as a gift:

Simply mix two heaping teaspoons into

hot water and enjoy!

Next up...through Pinterest, I discovered

a talented blogger named May May.

Visit her blog MayMayMadeIt HERE

This is one WOW! project I can't wait to

try with photos added inside:

Envelope Explosion Mini Album

(Uses the Envelope Punch Board)

Original Pin HERE

Here's another card I want to try:

Mini Envelope Tutorial

and lastly...

MayMay's 2017 Favorite Things Edition!

WARNING: Watch at your own risk - LOL -

because you will have to buy some new

toys after watching it!

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

I needed a quick Valentine's Day card to make this year as February will be a busy month with a wedding in the family. This lovely card below from Pinterest uses the HEARTS ENTWINE die online at Simon Says and was the perfect inspiration for a HOM-made valentine this year:

Original Pin HERE

My 2017 Valentine's Day Card:

I love this metallic gold paper. I found it squirreled away in my paper drawer...and it was so old that it was starting to bubble in places. I did a happy when I could finally put it to good use!

My sister loves shades of blue. This one's for her:

I also had a chance to make a matching purse and birthday card set:

Stamp Sets by Stampin' Up:

Butterfly Basics

Watercolor Wishes

Oh, So Lovely

By Art Gone Wild:

Birthday 3-D Simple Circles

I found this card design and tutorial

from this Pinterest pin:

 Original Pin HERE

View Instructions HERE

I also made this get well version:

Stamp Set by Stampin' Up:

Thoughts and Prayers

This type of card is called a tri shutter card. A search in Pinterest yielded a bunch of examples and variations HERE and HERE with many helpful tutorials in a PDF format.

For more Valentine's Day PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS picks, check out my board containing pins of cards that would be suitable for Valentine's Day, Weddings and Anniversaries HERE. 

Happy Valentine's Day and send a handmade paper greeting to those who make your heart happy!

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Paper Divas and the Very Best ofPinterest Pins

I'm so lucky to be in a group of talented paper crafters and we call ourselves the Paper Divas. I hosted our last meeting and here are some of the items we created and shared:

The inside of my card was the result of

this Pinterest pin:

Original Pin HERE

I made a Pilgrim version like this for each person 

and put it at their place setting for a good laugh!

I got the idea from this pin:

Original Pin HERE 

Katie taught us how to make these lovely

card boxes that held 4 cards with envelopes:

This is the SU embossing set for the outside flap:

The flap closes thanks to a little

circle of Velcro that Katie brought

on Amazon.com.

She even made a template for each of us!!

...and here were her 4 cards inside the box:

Using SU products, Katie made these two

cute Christmas cards, too:

Alice Brown let us make this stunning card:

This was a Starbucks gift card favor I had

at each person's work area:

These holders were so much fun to make thanks to

a pin that includes a fantastic how to video:

Original Pin HERE

...and here was the Taste of Home dish that we feasted upon.

I made the whole thing in my cast iron skillet, but a

a casserole dish works well, too:

Cornbread Taco Bake

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 20 min. Bake: 25 min.

MAKES: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds ground beef
• 1 can (15-1/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 envelope taco seasoning
• 1 package (8-1/2 ounces) corn bread/muffin mix*
• 1 can (2.8 ounces) french-fried onions, divided
• 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• (I added 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic once the ground beef was browned.)

• Directions

  1. In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the corn, tomato sauce, water, green pepper, garlic and taco seasoning. Spoon into a greased 2-qt. baking dish.
  2. Prepare corn bread mix according to package directions for corn bread. Stir in half of the onions. Spread over beef mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 20 minutes.
  3. Sprinkle with cheese and remaining onions. Bake 3-5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and a toothpick inserted into corn bread layer comes out clean. 
• *Try experimenting by adding various items to the cornbread mix such as olives, green chilies, etc.