I know it's a little over a week after Valentine's Day, but I wanted to share with you the Valentine's Day cards my kids and I made for thier classes:

These are the ones we made for J's class:

Let me just start off by saying that I am in NO WAY super duper creative. I got this idea from another mommy-friend of mine who did this for her son's class this year too! Thanks so much for the idea and inpiration, April! :)

The free pirate printables came from: HERE. There's also a pirate-girl verson too! I picked up the erasers from Target in their Dollar/Valentine's section.

Here are more pictures of the set of cards:

And here they are packaged up!

I had J sign his name on the back of each one and also had him address them. Granted, I had to spell each of his classmates names for him, but all in all, he did a fabulous job!

I should totally get a mommy-of-the-year award this time around! Last year his cards were store-bought, we didn't include a treat, and it was like pulling teeth to have him write his name on each one! *lol*

Anyway, on to M's cards... I got this idea from somewhere... It might have been from a blog I follow or maybe Pinterest, but I had seen the concept of making crayons from broken crayons over a year ago. I had been itching to try it out and I thought it would be a great time as any to do it for Valentine's day.

You start off with the crayons... You can either gather broken ones you have laying around the house or break them up yourself (remember to remove the paper wrapper!)

You know, breaking up the crayons wasn't the hardest part - it was removing the wrappers! I don't remember the paper wrapper being so hard to rip off of a crayon. Maybe they use a different adhesive to keep it on? Ugh. At any rate, they were a PAIN to remove.

Anyway, after you have them broken, distribute them into an oven safe pan with cute shapes. I used an ice cube tray from Ikea with heart shapes.

Don't use the tray for eating food or making ice cubes after you use it for crayons - the crayons leave a nasty film inside of the tray! Ewww!

Put the tray on top of a cookie sheet lined with foil - in case it spills over. And then put all of it in a 230degree oven for about 15 minutes. You just need the crayons to melt, not to cook.

After 15 minutes they come out looking like this (but more melted):

Leave them on the countertop to cool and harden before removing them.

I made mine a week before I attempted to make cards...

And for the cards, I just drafted up something in Photoshop and printed it out.

I adhered one heart-shaped crayon to the card using foam tape and voila!

The Valentine's Day cards were a HIT! It was really fun this year because the kids really enjoyed giving and receiving some awesome cards.

J even sent one to us in the mail (through the preschool, of course!)

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! :) Love should be celebrated everyday, not just one day out of the year, don't you think?

Have a wonderful Friday!

I meant to post this earlier, but time got away from me! Here's my little Kat Scrappiness Haul video + the project I made for the month!

I know some of you are more visual when it comes to looking at stuff so I wanted to share in a different way!

Pardon the babbling! Enjoy!

Have a fabulous day! :)

For Getting Cricky's "Cabin Fever" Blog Hop CLICK HERE!

Welcome the “Getting Cricky With It” Surprise Blog Hop for Kristal!!!

 Today the Design Team is bringing you some very special projects created for our wonderful and amazing leader Kristal! Our term is almost over and we wanted to show her just how much we appreciate ALL that she has done for us this term. The projects that we will be sharing with you will also be sent to Kristal. We encourage ALL of her fans to join in on the fun as well! Be sure to add your card/project to the link below and then be sure to mail it off to her!

 If you've hopped along from JESSIE'S BLOG then you are in the right place!! If you are just joining me from your dashboard, or reading this via email, please be sure to CLICK HERE to start at the beginning with Kristal's blog (you'll want to catch up on all the FUN!!)...

Each of Kristal's stamp sets benefit charity. At least $1 per stamp set goes to benefit the charity noted on the stamp set package. Kristal is donating to the following charities: Cancer Angels, Storefront Shelter for Homeless Children, Intrepid & Fallen Heroes, E. Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Doorways Shelter for Women & Children (Domestic Violence), Wayside House for Women, Camp Good Days & Special Times, Adopt a Classroom, and Autism Research Institute. Kristal will donate $1 for every stamp set sold, retail or wholesale to the charity noted; and over time believes this will add up to some wonderful miracles for these special people. So you can feel good that each time you purchase a K Andrew Designs art stamp set, someone around the country is receiving some good help! K Andrew's stamps are all made and assembled here in the USA, which is very important to Kristal. This ensures all product materials are safe and that jobs are being provided and maintained here in America. You can learn even more about Kristal's stamps (and pick some up for yourself) by visiting her online store: K Andrew Designs:

Here's my card for today's HOP and for Kristal!

supplies: CS: kraft (Paper Accents), Solar White (Neenah); DP: My Mind's Eye; image stamp: Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps; sentiment stamps: Coffee & Tea for You & Me (K Andrew Designs); ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Chocolate Chip (SU!); oval nestabilities (Spellbinders); mini brads: SEI

For my card today, I really wanted to use the Coffee & Tea for You & Me Set so I paired it with one of my newest stamps from Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps! I'm really loving creating cards with coffee images - I'm slowly becoming addicted to coffee! I'm trying to limit myself, but I'm finding that, with me working nights, AND me getting older (and the kids getting older and busier), it's harder to stay awake!

Anyway, here's the fabulous set by Kristal!

Cute right?!

Anyway, the hop still continues! Now you can dance on over to your next stop: LETILLIA'S BLOG!

Here is the line up in case you get lost along the way:

1. Kristal
2. RhoLynda
3. Charlotte
4. Cheri
5. Linda
6. Amanda
7. Debbie
8. Vero
9. Lisa
10. Jennie
11. Kristan
12. Jamie
13. Christel
14. Jana
15. Patti
16. Heather
17. Miranda
18. Ildi
19. Jessie
20. JoAnn <--- you are HERE!
21. Letillia
22. Larelyn
23. Anita
24. Laura
25. Sherry
26. Shawn
27. Faith
28. Amy

Hi everyone!

I know it's been a while since I've done a Tiffany Tutor video - I was hit with 2 colds at the end of January and February and I couldn't speak for more than 2 minutes without coughing! Ugh. It was the WORST!

And now it's almost the end of February and I have a new video to share with you to get you ready for next week's Tiffany Doodles release! :)

Check out my new tutorial on how to use the upcoming photo overlays set called "Love Thang"...

And here's the layout that I'm showing off in the video:

Forgive me... When I create digi layouts I have a really hard time remembering the papers, embellishments, etc. so I don't have a supply list to share!

Anyway, I'm really loving Tiff's new photo overlays! They're like digi sentiment stamps! Super fun and super easy to use!

Check them out when they release next week - Mark your calendars! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous day!

It's Tuesday and it's time for another sketch challenge at Skipping Stones Design! :)

This sketch is brought to us by the lovely Kazan:

 And here's my take on it:

supplies: CS: kraft (Paper Accents); DP: My Mind's Eye; stamp sets: Cupcake Cutie (Skipping Stones Design), Sassy Cats (Skipping Stones Design); ink: Chocolate Chip (SU!)

My interpretation of this week's sketch is super simple and I think that's all I have time for lately! My weeks have been busy with work and home life and it's leaving little time for crafting! And it's such a shame too - my mojo has really been JAMMIN' lately! :)

I decided to combine sets this week - the cute cupcake image from Cupcake Cutie and the sentiment from Sassy Cats. Sometimes you just need to combine sets to make one great card, right? :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Please check out the Skipping Stones Design blog for more inspiration!

Wow, can you believe it?! This is the third layout I've created in the past week! Yay for Kat Scrappiness goodies and felties! I've been so inspired to sit down and create!

supplies: DP: October Afternoon; journaling card (My Mind's Eye); chipboard letters (Amy Tangerine for American Crafts); bluebird felt die cut (Kat Scrappiness)

So this layout is 8x8 and it was really a great size to work with. I usually don't scrapbook pages smaller than 12x12 or 8.5x11 but this was fun to work with. It pushed me outside of my comfort zone!

The idea for the layout was inspired by this felt die cut! I REALLY wanted to use it on a scrapbook page and then I thought of a title and everything sort of just fell into place. It's probably one of my favorite most recent layouts I've created so far. :)

Thanks so much for visiting me today! Hope you have a great week! :)

It's time for a new challenge at Birthday Sundaes! This week we're challenging you to create a STEP card - side step, center step, stair step, etc.! The possibilities are endless! :)

Just in case you don't know how to create one, here are some links to a few tutorials!

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/StairStepfold/
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/centerstepcard/
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/sidestepcard/

And this week, we're sponsored by Stamp Fairy:

So for my card today, I created my favorite fold - the center step card. :)

supplies: CS: orange (PaperTrey Ink), kraft (Paper Accents); DP: Basic Grey; image: Sassy Suzi (The Greeting Farm); sentiment: Paper Smooches; ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Chocolate Chip (SU!); ribbon (SU!); petite oval & petite scallop oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Copic Markers, mini brads

Pardon the extra stuff around my card - for some reason, my card kept slipping open! So frustrating!

Anyway, I decided to share this card featuring an image from The Greeting Farm. My mistake - I misplaced my Stamp Fairy images! :( But I wanted to share a center step card with you anyway - you all know it's one of my favorite folds! :)

I hope you get a chance to play along with us at Birthday Sundaes! The prize this week is a $10 gift certificate to Stamp Fairy! Good luck and can't wait to see what you create!

I know I usually try and post something non-crafty on Saturdays but I couldn't resist sharing another scrapbook layout with you all that features another set of fabulous felties from Kat Scrappiness.

supplies: CS: white, brown (Bazzill); DP: MAMBI; felt elephant baby die cuts (Kat Scrappiness); scallop border punch, heart punch (SU!)

So M is 5 months in this picture... I can hardly believe it. The gummy smile still makes me laugh - she didn't cut her first tooth until she was 14 months old! *lol*

I got these adorable elephant baby die cuts and decided to create a baby layout. I thought they would be super perfect! I think they would also be perfect for a baby shower card for a friend. Don't you think?

I'll say it again: I'm really loving creating scrapbook pages again! Hope the mojo continues!

Have fabulous weekend, everyone! :)

We're so happy you could join us for this month's Getting Cricky Design Team Blog Hop!! 

We have an EXTRA SPECIAL hop for you this month -- All week long, the Design Team has been featuring many of Kristal's stamp sets as well as an array of Cricut Cartridges, SVG cuts, and more in anticipation of the hop...  If you've missed out on any of the week, be sure to check out our previous posts for MORE THAN 100 CREATIVE IDEAS and PROJECTS as well as giveaways, promotions, tips, and tutorials!! 

If you've hopped along from JESSIE'S BLOG then you are in the right place!! If you are just joining me from your dashboard, or reading this via email, please be sure to CLICK HERE to start at the beginning with Kristal's blog (you'll want to catch up on all the FUN!!)...

Each of Kristal's stamp sets benefit charity. At least $1 per stamp set goes to benefit the charity noted on the stamp set package. Kristal is donating to the following charities: Cancer Angels, Storefront Shelter for Homeless Children, Intrepid & Fallen Heroes, E. Glaser Pediatric AIDS  Foundation, Doorways Shelter for Women & Children (Domestic Violence), Wayside House for Women, Camp Good Days & Special Times, Adopt a Classroom, and Autism Research Institute. Kristal will donate $1 for every stamp set sold, retail or wholesale to the charity noted; and over time believes this will add up to some wonderful miracles for these special people. So you can feel good that each time you purchase a K Andrew Designs art stamp set, someone around the country is receiving some good help! K Andrew's stamps are all made and assembled here in the USA, which is very important to Kristal. This ensures all product materials are safe and that jobs are being provided and maintained here in America.  You can learn even more about Kristal's stamps (and pick some up for yourself) by visiting her online store: K Andrew Designs:

Kristal's stamp sets are perfect for cards, layouts, and so much more... For my project, I'm featuring the Pirate Tales & Fish Scales sentiment set!

Here's the project I've made using this set:

(supples: CS: kraft (Paper Accents), yellow (Recollections, Bazzill), blue (Bazzill), red, green (Recollections), black (Bazzill); DP: Basic Grey; Cricut Cart: pirate bird cut at 3 1/4"(3 Birds on Parade); stamp set: Pirate Tales and Fish Scales (K Andrew Designs); ink: Basic Black (SU!); wide oval punch, ribbon (SU!); staples (Tim Holtz)

 I stepped out of my comfort zone and created a little tag/bookmark! I thought this would be perfect to give to any friend as sort of a "pick me up". How cute is this little pirate bird? :) And even better, how perfect is the sentiment?!

Since I made this cute little tag, I'm also linking up to:

Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Tag It

Anyway, there's an awesome promo going on right now so if you've been thinking about purchasing a K Andrew set, you might as well pick up a couple more: Buy $25, get the Mini Heart Bonus Set for FREE!!

Today, it's my turn to share a "tip" with you over at the Skipping Stones Design blog! Today, I'm sharing a little tip about "altering" your stamps...

supplies: CS: kraft (Paper Accents); DP: My Mind's Eye; stamp set: Grunge 2 (Skipping Stones Design); ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip (SU!); star punch, brads (SU!)

Head on over to the Skipping Stones Design blog to CHECK IT OUT!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!