Fresh Flowers for Your Lemonade

Happy Saturday everyone! Today I have a fun and easy project for you which looks SO cute (or elegant, or cheery, or whimsical - whatever you choose) and gives you a fun place to set your drink on. I'm always looking for fun things to stamp on that will look nice in my craft space and these little coasters do the trick. I picked up this set of 4 acrylic photo coasters at Michael's (don't forget your 40% coupon!) and what I love about them is there is enough room between the acrylic plate and the base of the photo holder to give me some dimension to work with. I'm thinking buttons, and ribbon, and rhinestones - oh my! I'm making coasters for summer, so Fresh Flowers is the perfect set along with the Mother's Day Key Ingredients kit.

Some other ideas for your personalized coasters are themes for birthday parties, holidays, all seasons, or whatever your mood is for the week, *wink*.
These particular coasters hold photos 2-5/8" square, so I trimmed my cardstock to that size and added the circle scallop Nestabilities die to each square. After stamping the images in Memento Rich Cocoa on Choice Buttercream and coloring them, I used the circle Nestabilities die and layered it over the scallop. This is a fairly simple project and you can make it easier by simply stamping directly on one layer or more difficult by adding more layers and embellishments.
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Have a wonderful weekend!
Karen


recipe -
stamps: fresh flowers
ink: memento rich cocoa, copic markers
paper: mother's day key ingredients
accessories: kaisercraft rhinestones (mother's day key ingredients), savannah buttons, dimensional tape

Happy Mother's Day

Hi All! Today I have a fun little Mother's Day card featuring the Whimsical Wishes "Fresh Flowers" set. I am having so much fun with these stamps. I decided to use the rose bouquet for the main image. I wanted to make it stand out so I stamped it three times, colored it in with my Copics, and then layered the blooms to create a 3D effect. After I did that, I added some crystals to mimic the morning dew. The patterned paper is from the new Taylored Expressions Mother's Day Key Ingredients. I seriously can't get enough of this kit! I seem to pick it up every time I go to make a card. The sentiment is framed with a nesties die cut. Since it was stamped on white card stock I decided to make it pop with some brown circle punches. To complete the card I added a Zva Creative crystal flourish. Well, that's all for today but make sure to check back for more awesome creations from the Baker's Dozen!
Hugs,

Mother's Day Surprise

Hello everyone! With Mother's Day right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to put a little project together for my kids to give to their Grandmas next month. I'm using elements from the Mother's Day Key Ingredients kit since it's already coordinated for me! You can click on any photo to see a larger version of it.

Generic supplies you will need:

1 pop-top can
safety can opener
candy or another filler
sticky tape
scissors
stamps
ink
scallop punch or die cut
crystal effects (or another strong glue)
cardstock/patterned paper
embellishments

Open the can with a safety can opener from the bottom. Pour out the contents and be sure to clean it out and dry it completely.

Cut your patterned paper or cardstock to fit the height and circumference of the pop-top can. Add sticky strip to the can, top to bottom, and to the inside of your paper.

Peel the backing off the sticky strip on the can and apply the paper, then peel the backing off the sticky strip on the paper to create a smooth seam.

Fill the can with your goodies - I would recommend putting them in a baggie so the glue doesn't ooze all over the candy, or use individually wrapped candy.

Use crystal effects or another strong glue and apply a steady strip of glue around the outside of the bottom you removed earlier. Press it back onto the can and be sure to hold it in place for a good 30 seconds.













Now is the fun part! Add embellishements - I'm using silk flowers and ribbon from the Mother's Day Key Ingredients kit as well as Savannah buttons for mine.

I also added strips of scalloped paper to the top and bottom of the can. To hide the "how to open this can" instructions (this makes me laugh!), cut out a circle that is big enough to cover the wording. To get the paper to fit underneath the pop-tab, use a 1/2" circle punch and cut the paper to fit.

Now you will be able to slide the paper right under the tab. You can decorate the lid here or skip to the next step.

This is an optional step if you choose to cover the tab. I stamped the sentiment and flower from Fresh Flowers onto my scalloped circle and used Copic markers. I added the button and some Flower Soft to the center of my flower. The scallop is popped up with dimensional tape.

Now it's your turn to try - have fun with this!

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recipe -
stamps: fresh flowers
paper: mother's day key ingredients
ink: memento rich cocoa, copic markers
accessories: silk flowers, satin ribbon (mother's day key ingredients), savannah bag o buttons, flowersoft, silver brads, flower punch, circle scallop nestabilities, scallop edge punch, mini glue dots, sticky strip, crystal effects, dimensional tape

A Diva's Receipt/Coupon Organizer

I'll admit it...I'm one of those people who shoves receipts and coupons into the black hole, otherwise known as my purse, never to be seen or used again. I'm organized for some things, but definitely not for receipts and coupons. As soon as I saw the Downtown Diva set I KNEW I needed to make myself an organizer to keep in my purse. So here's what I came up with! 

The image from Downtown Diva is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black onto Choice Snow White and coloured with copics. I cut it out using my Labels Two Nestabilities by Spellbinders. All the paper and ribbon are from the March Key Ingredients and the rhinestones are from the Mother's Day Key Ingredients. Have you signed up for your Key Ingredients subscription yet? I absolutely LOVE the Key Ingredients...coordinating products in one package...it's super easy to whip up projects using the Key Ingredients, and the subscription service is packed with extra value! 

But wait a second...did you notice that there are two green and one blue rhinestone, in addition to the clear ones? Well, I discovered that you can colour your rhinestones with copic markers...so the green and blue ones started out as clear ones from the Mother's Day Key Ingredients. 

Here's a tutorial I put together so you can build your own Receipt/Coupon Organizer...just in case there are other "black hole" purse carriers like me!  :)

Start with a 6x9.75 inch piece of red cardstock. Score it at 3, 3.5, 6.5, and 7 inches. This will make the body of your organizer.

Next cut two pieces of brown cardstock to 3x4 inches. You'll score both of these every half inch, at .5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 and 3.5 inches. Then accordian fold both pieces...these will create your sides. I wanted the sides to be accordian folds like a file folder, so that the top would open up wider than the bott0m...easier to put receipts in and get coupons out.

Next I chose one of the striped cardstock pieces for the divider. It's cut to 3x6 inches and scored at half an inch from each end. 

Then I used an oval punch on the red base piece, to create a little opening. Be sure you're punching the end panel that measures three inches, because the slightly smaller end is the one that creates the front flap. 

Next add a strong adhesive to the ends of the accordian folded pieces and to the ends of the divider piece. Taylor's Sticky Tape would be perfect for this. 

You'll adhere one end of the accordian fold piece to the inside of the front panel and the other end to the inside of the back panel. Repeat for the other side, then adhere the ends of the divider piece to each accordian piece. 

To keep the front flap closed I added some self adhesive Basic Grey magnets. The easiest way to line them up is to adhere a magnet to the inside of the flap, take your second magnet and let it attach itself (magnetically) to the first magnet, then close your flap. Presto...magnets are aligned. 

Then I added another of the patterned papers from the March Key Ingredients to hide the magnet on the front of the Organizer. I left the other magnet exposed for two reasons: 1) it doesn't really show except when I open the organizer. 2) I didn't want another layer of cardstock to take away the strength of the magnetic connection. 

Once your Organizer is built you can decorate it to suit your Diva style! 

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Thanks for stopping by!

Karen 

Altered Photo Frame with Mother's Day Key Ingredients

I've got a fun altered photo frame project to share with you today! A couple of years ago while on vacation to the States I stocked up on some of those super cheap photo frames from the Target Dollar Spot. Since then I've also made these with the plain wooden frames available at Michael's. How about the deets now :)

I chose a couple papers from the Mother's Day Key Ingredients to use. First I traced the frame on a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" Prism cardstock and cut it out. I used some mod podge to adhere it to the frame. While that dried I gathered up the rest of my supplies. Since I don't want to send this frame without a photo I decided to make a focal image using the Fresh Flowers stamp set. The image was stamped with Memento Black ink onto Choice Buttercream cardstock which is available in the Mother's Day Key Ingredients or in a package of 25 sheets. I then coloured with some Copic markers and cut it out with some oval nestabilities. Speaking of nestibilities....did you see that Taylored Expressions is now carrying a great selection of Spellbinders products!
I've finished the frame off with some gorgeous ribbon and Kaiser Rhinestones from the kit as well!

Now I will gift this to my Grandmother for Mother's Day next month and she can either choose to leave the image in or take it out and insert a photograph.
Below you will see a snapshot of what the frame looked like before I started!

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