Courtney's Corner

Hostess Gift

For the workshop I have this weekend, I wanted to put together a really great hostess gift, because this particular hostess is going to a LOT of work to make this workshop fantabulous! I went to Bath & Body  Works and bought some body butter, body lotion, body cream, body wash, and hand cream. Then, I also picked up this silver tray at Target and made some note cards and VOILA! 

I guess there were a couple of other steps. I CASED the notecards from here. I also used the Scallop Envelope Die to make the notecard box. I cut the labels for the body products from the Matchbox Die and the Great Friend stamp set for my entire project. The Rich Razzleberry ribbon was also used throughout. I hope she likes it!

Ingredients:

Stamp Set: Great Friend

Paper: Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Cottage Wall DSP

Ink: Old Olive, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum

Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Envelope Die, Scallop Circle Bigz Die, Scallop Circle #2 Bigz Die, Matchbox Bigz XL Die, Rich Razzleberry 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain ribbon, White 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, Sticky Strip, Snail, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 - 3/8" Circle Punch, 1 - 1/4" Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Crop-a-dile, 3/16" Corner Rounder Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Book to Look Jar

Good Afternoon! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day! I am preparing for a workshop I have next weekend and I wanted to make a cute little "Book to Look" jar. This was incredibly simple and I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I just went to Michaels with a 50% off coupon and bought the glass bowl. Then, I used my Big Shot and the pillow box die and made about 18 pillow boxes. To make the sign, I used my Big Shot again and the Top Note Bigz Die and cut out two Top Notes. One with chipboard and the other with the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. I cut along the dotted edge of the Top Note made with the DSP to make it a little smaller and then adhered it to the chipboard Top Note. For the stick, I put 4 skewers together and wrapped them with Sticky Strip and then rolled a long, thin piece of DSP around it. The rest is pretty self explanatory. 

I will take this with me to my workshop and hopefully get a LOT of bookings from it. If you don't know, a "Book to Look" jar is a fun little activity to use at workshops. This is how it works: The jar is filled with pillow boxes and each one contains a piece of paper with a prize on it. They range from a free spool of ribbon, to a free Classic Stampin' Pad, to Stampin' Dimensionals, to a whole bunch of other things. Nothing in the jar is over $6, except for one pillow box which contains a free stamp set of their choice valued up to $15.95. In order to pick out a pillow box, they must first book a workshop with me. When they hold their workshop, I place the order for their free prize with their workshop order and then the prize comes with all the workshop items. Also, the first person to book a workshop also gets the spool of ribbon around the sign stick in the picture.

Ingredients:

Stamp Set: Contempo Alphabet

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, On Board Large Basic

Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note Bigz Die, Pillow Box Bigz Die, Birds and Blooms Sizzlits Die, Silver Brads, Crop-a-dile, Sticky Strip,Stamp-a-ma-jig,  Skewers, Glass Jar

Gift for baby and mom

Hi everyone! I have about 6 weeks to go with this pregnancy and I just haven't had a lot of mojo lately. I am torn between just wanting to sit on the couch in the evening (which is when I usually play with all my stamps and scraps) and getting up and creating a project because I have a feeling it will be a good while before I get to do that after little baby Emma gets here. But, the couch has been winning that little argument in my head recently. However, I needed to put together a little gift for a friend of mine who is due with a little boy the day after I'm due. She decided not to have a baby shower, but this would be a perfect gift for that as well. 

I saw these adorable tin buckets at Target in the dollar section and I scooped up all that were left. I got 2 each of blue, green, and pink. I thought about how cute it would be to use the decor elements to spruce this bucket up and put her gift inside with a card as well, of-course. 

This was so easy. The image actually comes with the phrase "So many toys, so little time" all on one line and the airplane is above it. You can see this image to the left.  I cut it all apart so that I could position it differently. I laid the image where I wanted it on my bucket and then temporarily taped it there for a moment so that I could mark the corners (top and side). Then I followed these directions:

1. Lay the sheet on a flat surface, with the backing sheet grid-side up.

2. Lightly rub the entire surface with a Decor Elements applicator tool. this will transfer the image from the backing sheet to the transfer sheet.

3. Carefully and slowly, peel the backing sheet off, working from one side to the other. If any of the image does not transfer, carefully replace the backing sheet over the image and rub until the image has completely adhered to the transfer sheet.

4. Gently place the image on the transfer within the marked corners.

5. Working with the applicator tool, rub the image onto the bucket. Starting at the center, rub from top to bottom, working outward.

6. Carefully and slowly, peel the transfer sheet off the image, pulling straight back at an angle. Make sure the image is transferring, but if it isn't simply replace the transfer sheet over the image and rub until the image has completely adhered to the bucket.

7. After the image has completely transfered, you can use your hand to smooth it out.

It's super easy. It only took me about 15 minutes from start to end and this is the first time I have ever used decor elements. If you would like to take a look at all of our decor elements, you can visit my Stampin' Up! website.

Ingredients:

Decor Elements: SO MANY TOYS, SMALL WHITE

Tools: Applicator Tool

Butterflies in the Nursery! Oh wait, it's okay.

I must apologize for being away. I have just not had any mojo lately and I fear that this might happen more and more as I get closer to my due date. I can remember when just a few weeks ago people were asking how I felt and I responded by telling them that I am really well and I almost don't even feel pregnant. Now,... I totally feel pregnant. I feel big and I have to consciously think about NOT waddling. With my son, I gained about 55-60 pounds and I vowed that I would not do that again and I would be much more careful about my weight. I stepped on the scale the other night, and I have gained 40 pounds. Grr. I still have about 9 weeks left, so I know I'm in trouble. Now, I must add that I lost all the weight the first time, pretty quickly, so I'm hopeful that I can do that again. 

Something that I did manage to do is start decorating the nursery. While I was away for Memorial Day, my mom borrowed my Stampin' Up! Bigz Butterflies Die and made a butterfly chandelier that is almost identical to one at Pottery Barn Kids that I registered for on our Baby Registry.  I had also mentioned to her that I was going to cut out some butterflies to put on the wall and being the nice lady that she is, she went ahead and did that for me. All I had to do was put them up. She did an incredibly impressive job on the chandelier, huh?

So, my husband and I hung the chandelier last weekend and then I put up the butterfly decals this past week. I had so much fun doing it and I really liked the way everything turned out. I will update her bedroom more as I do it.

P.S. That's my 2 year-old son smiling big for the camera. What a cutie!

Tag for the Wine Basket

The baby shower was so much! I couldn't have asked for anything better and the company was wonderful as well. I am so blessed to have such a great group of family and friends! We started out eating a delicious brunch with yummy cheesy potatoes, sandwiches, sausage, fruit, donuts, deviled eggs, vegetables, and more. Then, after mingling a little bit we opened presents and played games. 

My cousins wife,Erin, had this hilarious game prepared where everyone was handed a piece of paper with 13 questions on it for my husband and I to answer. Then, if they thought we would answer the question with the same answer they would write a "yes" next to it, or if they thought we would answer the question differently they would write a "no" next to the question. My husband and I were asked the questions one by one and then we both whispered our answer to Erin and if we answered the question with the same answer or differently she would announce if it was a "yes" or "no" for that question. At the end, whoever guessed the most right (whether we would answer them the same or not) got a prize. My step-dad won that game. It's almost like The Newlywed Game. The questions were really cute and very funny. 

After the presents and games, I presented the hostesses and host with their gifts. Kelli got the Bath & Body Works set that I posted earlier and Erin and Michael got this super cute gift basket filled with wine, cheese, chocolates, olives, and crackers. I made a little gift tag to attach to the basket, just to add a little something. I hope you like it and I also hope you're having a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Ingredients:

Stamp Set: Baroque Motifs, Holidays and Wishes

Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Kraft, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla

Ink: Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy

Accessories: Jumbo Eyelets, Stampin' Dimensionals, Vintage Brads, Crop-A-Dile