Hi there!  I just wanted to share a card I made last week. I think it's a sweet card, so I'm sending it to my best friend. I saw the stamp set and instantly though of her.

Card I made for my friend

In case you haven't noticed, I absolutely LOVE using Stampin' Up's new blendabilites markers.  They are so fun.  I went back, after I took this photo and filled in the skirt of her dress a little better.  They are great, even for beginners, since they come in sets of 3 shades (light, medium, and dark) for each color. The papers I used were Calypso coral and coastal cabana , with the 1/8" taffetta ribbon in Bermuda Bay.  I also used the Tag Topper Scalloped Punch, which is one of my most-used punches. 

The stamp I used is the "ERYN girl" set  from Unity Stamp Company's "Angie girl collection. The Angie girl line is a really fun line of stamps that I love! 

"Back To School" card for teacher friends

I finally put a really busy few weeks at work that were filled with long hours of working into the night and most of the weekend behind me, and got some time to relax, drink wine, finish some books I'd started reading, and paper craft. In case I haven't mentioned this before, I enjoy paper crafting and specifically making cards,  but I do NOT claim to be a great at it, a Pro or anything close to it.  It's a lot different that my profession and I find it to be fun creative outlet.  Now that I got that out of the way....  I have several friends who are teachers and were heading "back to school" this month so I wanted to make a cute card to wish them a great school year ahead:

Cards I made for a handful of friends that are teachers. 

 The card could also be modified and sent to an older student.  I really had fun making this card because I got to use 2 things I'd been wanting to play with

1) Stampin' Up Blendabilities Markers.  The red color I used on the dress and the apple was the Cherry cobbler assortment, and the color for her skin and on the chalk board I used the Skin tone assortment.  Like I said before, I am by no means, a pro at crafty coloring, but I do enjoy it!

 2) I also got to use my "Jen Girl" stamp set from the ANGIEgirls collection by Angie Blom at Unity Stamp company.  Here's the link:  http://unitystampco.com/shop/jen-girl/    If I had a magical bottomless bank account for stamp shopping, I would own the entire Angie girl collection.  They are so cute!  The "Jen Girl" set I used for this card actually has 5 separate stamps in it which makes it pretty versatile. My friends loved the card and the thought.  I antiqued/distressed some of the cards and not the others.  I think I preferred the "antiqued" look on the background, but I know it's not everyone's cup of tea.   I didn't have any scrapbook paper that had letters/writing on it, so I literally ripped a few pages out of an old, about-to-fall-apart dictionary I had laying around.  The cute pencil ribbon is from Michael's.   I absolutely love the feeling of sending a handmade card to a good friend and hearing how it made there day to get a surprise among the bills and junk mail.

Home-sewn Paris themed throw blanket

I recently made a throw blanket to send to a friend of mine.  She moved to a new place, so I thought this would make a cute house warming gift.  My friend took French in college, has visited France multiple times, and loves all things France so when I found this cute fabric online, she immediately came to mind.

"Paris Landmark Vignettes" Fabric in white found at www.equilter.com

Equilter.com, where I found the fabric at, appears to no longer have it, however I did find it at Allegro Fabrics.  Alternatively,  there are many other cute Paris-themed fabrics you may like. I found some by searching Equilter,  I found the fleece with Eiffel Towers on it at Hobby lobby and use it on the other side.  I call it the "cuddly side of the throw."   Since the fleece seemed fairly plushy on its own, I didn't add any batting to the inside. I pre-washed the fabrics, and then  I simply cut my pieces to the size I desired,  turned the two printed (soon to be outsides of the throw) sides towards each other or inside out might be a better way to explain it,  and sewed all the edges up except one side.  I then flipped the throw blanket out the so it was right side out and sewed up the last edge, which in my case is meant to be the bottom part of the throw blanket.  On the final edge,  I folded the ends in a bit to create a smooth edge and ironed it so it would create a nice fold and hold in place while I sewed.

 

throw blanket in progress

As you can see from the photo above,  my cat, Salma supervised the whole process.  

I dropped the blanket off on Monday and my friend sent me a sweet message today thanking me! :) 

Finished and ready to mail 

Home-sewn Baby Blanket (gift for a friend)

A friend of mine recently had a baby girl, and is not into the traditional pink everywhere look.  She and her husband have a very unique and cool style. She is also the type that really appreciates hand made gifts. I had ordered her a baby shower gift off of her amazon registry,  but I really wanted to make some handmade and useful for her beautiful baby girl. While browsing through fabrics on a site another friend had recently told me about, eQuilter, I ran into a fabric I knew my friend would love.....Menagerie from the Peacock Lane collection by Violet Craft for Michael Miller Fabrics. Isn't it just unique and lovely?  [By the way, when I returned to the site to buy more of this fabric,  I was only about to get 1.50 more yards since that was all they had left.  Not sure if any other sites still have some of this fabric left. Now on the look out for my next cool fabric find.] 

Menagerie from the Peacock Lane Collection by Violet Craft for Michael Miller Fabrics  

As soon as I saw it, I just KNEW my friend would love it! I knew I had to make something from it.  I'm not extremely good at sewing or anything, so I knew it had to be something relatively simple so I decided on making her a baby blanket. I could get it done quickly and mail it off for her and her new baby girl to enjoy, so I dusted off my old sewing machine and went to work.

Instead of using batting inside, I went to Joann's Fabrics and picked up a yard of soft, thick, flannel material was just a shade or two darker than the teal color in the pattern.  I made this baby blanket a yard long, which I think is a bit bigger than most baby blankets.  After washing the fabrics, I layed the materials together flat with the Menagerie pattern facing down on the flannel back (so the outside of both materials were up against each other).  I lined them up and pinned them down.  Then I sewed the blanket together on 3 sides.  Some people choose to also sew most of the 4th side up and leave just a bit of room to turn the blanket right side out before sealing up the last little bit of space.

I decided I wanted the 4th side (which would be either the bottom or top edge of the blanket) uniform looking, so I turned the blanket right-side-out, folded the rough edges in, and then sewed the 4th side of the blanket closed about 1/2in in from the edge.  I made 2 passes with the machine. 

Finally, I ironed the blanket, folded it up nicely,  and sent it on its way.  My friend sent me a message a few days later saying how much she loved it and how well it went with the baby's room. I felt great making something they really liked, and it felt good using my old sewing machine again after a couple years of it collecting dust.  I think one of my resolutions for the year will be to try more sewing projects. 

3 Things I'm Liking in August

I don't do a lot of shopping, so I don't expect you'll see me doing a "haul" or any sort of shopping spree on a regular basis.  I do occasionally find products that I end up liking alot. Lately I've been really enjoying some beauty finds..... so here are 3 products that I'm currently liking:

 1)  Stila Stay All Day Foundation & Concealer  I had never tried any foundation from Stila before, but last time I was at Sephora, one of my favorite beauty consultants there did the Color IQ matching on me, and this foundation in 4, Beige was on the list.  She applied some on my face at the store, and the color was a good match.  I'm sometimes weary of trying new foundations because you get them home and they look completely different on your face, but I'm still liking this one.  It comes with concealer on the lid which is handy and goes perfectly with the foundation.  It also comes with a brush, but I haven't actually used it yet.  It has buildable coverage, is oil free,  and it lasted all (work) day on my face. 

Stila Stay All Day Foundation & Concealer

the top concealer part

2) benefit the Porefessional  Also got this at Sephora. It's a great face primer that feels nice and creamy and does seem to reduce the appearance of pores on my face. I'm not sure if I'm just weird, but it seems to smell nice as well.

benefit the Porefessional

3) Bare Minerals Purely Nourished Moisturizer with RareMinerals ActiveSoil Complex for combination skin (they also make one for normal to dry skin which I have never tried) .  Also bought this at Sephora, but Bare Escentuals has it as well, of course.  I was looking for a non-greasy every night moisturizer and this fits the bill.  It feels great on my skin and is lightweight. It's $28.00 at Sephora, which considering the cost of some of the other moisturizers they have, is a pretty good price.  What I like is some of the things it doesn't have:  no sulfates, no Parabens, no synthetic Fragrances or dyes, no Petrochemicals or Phthalates, no GMOs or Tricolosan.  I don't have to use a lot of this each time, so it last a while.  The only thing, is that it doesn't have sunscreen and not all of my foundations have it, so I use it nightly, but not during the day.  I did see on the Sephora website that there is a bareMinerals Advanced Protection SPF 20 moisturizer available. May have to give that one a try soon, for daytime use.

(BareMinerals Purely Nourished Moisturizer)