One More Wedding Card

Where did the weekend go?! We hope everyone is having a great day. As we wrote yesterday, our cousin got married this weekend. We've been sharing the few cards we made for them. This is the card we madefor the couple:

This one didn't come out quite like planned, but it still looks pretty nice (we think!) We dry-embossed the background and included some more rhinestones (why not?!) The hardest part, or most tedious, was sitting there, punching out all the super tiny parts to the 'doily'. Each 'flower' has at least 6 teeny tiny holes that needed to be punched, and there were two colors. Once that was done, it was a piece of cake, pun intended :)
We can't wait to hear all the stories we missed! I'm sure we'll be getting a phone call later in the day catching us up on everything!
That's it for the wedding cards. Now it's time to keep working on all those holiday cards! Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!

For a Special Couple

Happy Saturday! We hope everyone is having a great weekend so far. It looks as if today is going to be another wet day, but we'll see. It was supposed to rain all week, but the sun decided to come out most days. Hopefully it will today, for a little, at least. We are aware that today is, in fact Saturday, but today's post isn't a cupcake. Sorry! Back in Connecticut, our cousin is getting married today!

This is the card we sent to the happy couple. We went back to the blue and silver theme for the last two cards. We added a few special embellishments to this card, including some ribbon and tulle. We also embossed the flower petals (which looks cuter in person).
We wish we could be there to celebrate with them. Here's to wishing them many years of happiness together!!
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!!

Happy Birthday, Coach!!

Happy Friday! We hope everyone has had a wonderful week so far. Only a few more hours to get through to the weekend. Anyway, today's project is a card we made for our high school track coach. He is celebrating his 80th birthday today!! How awesome is that?! And he doesn't look a day over 70 (honestly, the man doesn't age!!)

Over the years, he has been such a huge part of our lives (we've kind of unofficially adopted him as our grandpa...) and the lives of so many other people. We have been fortunate enough to have him both coach us and coach with him. And now, we always look forward to going home and the hours spent talking with him about everything that has happened, whether it's about the track team or the neighbor's goats. So, Coach, here's a huge Happy Birthday to you!!

Happy Fall!

Happy Monday! We hope everyone enjoyed their first fall weekend. We had a typical western Washington wet weather weekend (say that 5 times fast). It was a good time to catch up with our projects so we don’t have to worry about them during this week and watch some football games. We got quite a bit done, but there’s always plenty more. In other words, it was a quite successful weekend. Today’s project is one that we created yesterday. And, might we say, it’s pretty darn cute!!

We had a lady order one of our recessed window cards last week, so  we wanted to make another such one, and figured the concept of ‘fall’ would give us many options to play with. Anyway, the card was inspired by the stamped sentiment in the corner (QKR Stampede digital stamp). It originally said “you have”, but we thought it would be better without that part. So, if the sentiment is “Something to crow about”, there must be a crow on the card, right? And if there is a crow, there has to be a cute little scarecrow. From there, the card kind of designed itself. As you might be able to tell, we went pop-dot-happy, again. (It just adds so much to the card!) And the final touch was the scaregirl’s little yellow bow! Here is another view of the card:

We had to make the card look more like a book. The last few cards we made like this, we made one fold in the center, but they just didn't look as good as we'd like. After a few, we realized this was the best way to do it. Here's to the best season of the year!! (Oh, how we miss fall in New England...as long as it isn't snowing...)

This card is entered in the following challenges:

{Pin}spirational Challenges: Fall Colors

Perfect Sentiment Challenge: Find Me Some Fall

Crafts4Eternty: Cute Kids

Pile It On Challenge: Pile it On #38- Cool of Warm Colors

Hiding In My Craft Room: Lots of Layers

Craftin' Desert Divas: Autumn/Fall

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

A Bridal Shower Card

Happy Sunday! We hope everyone is having a superb Sunday. Today's project is another wedding/engagement/shower we made for our cousin. Our mom asked us to make a card for the wedding shower.

Unlike the other cards we made for the wedding, we made this one pink. (We're still not quite sure what color scheme they're going with.) It is similar to another shower card we made (not sure if that one ever got posted. We can't seem to find it). To jazz it up a bit, we added some rhinestones around the border. The inside was left blank, so our mom could write her own little note.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

An Engagement Card

Happy Friday! We hope everyone had a wonderful work week. Today's project is a card we made for our cousin. So, it's more for his fiance- we don't know too many guys truly appreciate all the hard work put into a card :) Anyway, the two are getting married in a few days, so this is a card we made for them to congratulate them on their engagement. (Apparently our family enjoys quick engagements, or at least surprise ones...)

We didn't want to make the card too fancy, because they aren't the super-fancy type. The invitation had a blue and silver color-scheme, so we just went with it for the card. The picture isn't very good, but the diamond ring does have some sparkle to it and does pop out.
We've made a few other cards for the upcoming wedding. Over the next few days, we will share them. And, unfortunately, the pictures aren't nearly as good as we would like. Guess that's what happens when you take them with your phone...
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day and join us tomorrow for another Cupcake Saturday!

A New (Delicious) Fall Drink

We hope everyone is having a wonderful, working Wednesday! On the bright side, it's downhill after today. Anyway, today's post isn't something we usually do. We're pretty sure the last time we did this was last fall. We are sharing our recipe for a *drum roll* Apple Pie Latte:

This drink is absolutely delish! Just looking at the picture makes me smile. There is a story behind this recipe, though. The other day, I was so excited to go the store and get the pumpkin spice coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. How can you go wrong? And especially when it's on sale?! When I got there, I was disappointed because it wasn't there. But they had this apple pie-flavored coffee. I was kind of weary about getting it, but went for it, mostly because we're deprived of it out here. (Washington's downfall). I also picked up some caramel creamer and whipped cream with the idea of making a latte (yum!)
I hurried (safely) home because I was just so excited! Now, we kind of cheat when it comes to making lattes. We used a gift card to make the most-awesome purchase: a Mr. Coffee latte maker. Unless you have a boat-load of money to spend on the machine, I wouldn't recommend it. Then again, if you're someone who goes out and gets a coffee every day, it might be worth it. We've definitely gotten our money's worth :)
So, here's how to make your own, without any fancy equipment. This recipe makes two drinks (or, just one really large one!) 

Apple Pie Spice:
In a small container, mix 1/4 cup cinnamon, 1 tablespoon allspice, and 2 teaspoons both nutmeg and ginger. Mix well and store in an air-tight container.
This is one of those mornings that this drink would be perfect. Needless to say, this drink was absolutely delicious! I was surprised at how "apple-y" this coffee was. There are only a few flavored coffees that have such flavor to them. After we finished the coffee (in like a week...), we had our first (and only) pumpkin spice latte from the "other" place, and it was so disappointing. It tasted like a regular ol' latte. Good thing we can make our own now!!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!

A 'Boo'tiful Sunset

Good afternoon! We hope everyone is having a wonderful work day. It's about time for a nap around here. Only a few more hours to go. We have a Halloween card to share with you today:

This card has actually been a few years in the making. Since we started making cards, we always had the idea to make layers that opened up, ie- the gate in the front opening as one layer. (If that makes sense. Maybe the picture below helps my case.)

It's a little easier to see that the gate opens up, revealing the haunted castle. With a few color changes, a princess castle is quickly transformed into a spooky, haunted abode. As for the background, it is our take on a fall sunset. It didn't come out quite as well as we wanted (especially the line down the edge), but it's not too shabby using markers. As the sun sets, the creatures of the night come out to play. There are two bats that were glued to the card. The third is on a thin wire, so he can pop out at you! The image was then attached to the card base and the inside reads "Witching you a Happy Halloween"
We are entering this card into this week's SOUS Challenge- "Gates"
Thanks so much for stopping by!

My Bathroom Redo

Good morning! We hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend. We’ve been busy getting caught up on all of the work we didn’t do yesterday, along with some new projects we found and just have to try out!! Hopefully they will go as planned and we can share them in a few weeks. If not, then we’ll just have a bunch of yarn hanging around.

Today’s post was originally going to be a tutorial, but as I was writing it, I thought that it would be hard to follow. It something that’s been hanging around for a few months, but it wasn’t fully completed until last night’s addition of the curtain rings:

 

I would love to say this was totally my idea, but I can’t take any credit for it. Unfortunately. Similar shower curtain DIY’s are all over the internet and Pinterest. They are all remakes of this Anthropologie curtain that sells for $118.00. That’s just an absurd amount of money to spend on bathroom décor, so I decided to make one myself for around $20.00. The most expensive part was actually the rings to hold it up (the old blue ones weren’t working for me). I used 3 sheets in all. The two pink ones are queen-sized sheets that I found for $5.00 a piece, and the third was the original shower curtain I had up (which was also somewhere around $5.00, too). In actuality, I got the pink sheets to make a bedspread, but I thought it was time to spruce up the bathroom. There was a whole lotta fabric, a bit of extra thread, and some fighting words, but it is totally worth it. I won’t lie, I kind of feel like a princess whenever I get into the shower…
And the frame with flowers also helps. It's a happy reminder of our amazing trip a few summers ago. They were taken at the International Rose Test Garden in Portland.

Thanks for letting me share by bathroom stories! Or, just the bathroom. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Cupcake Saturday!

Happy Saturday! We hope everyone has had a wonderful work week. We are definitely looking forward to the weekend, even if it’s filled with a ton of work to do! At least we have a few more days of sun and warmer temperatures before the rainy season is upon us. Anyway, since it is Saturday, we have another cupcake to share. Today’s cupcake is a very fall-inspired one: Pumpkin-stuffed vanilla cupcakes, with a pumpkin spice buttercream.

 

These are a basic vanilla cupcake filled with a little pumpkin-y surprise! These are like our valentine’s day cupcakes a while back, with a heart in the middle. The pumpkin cake is a pumpkin-spice bread mix, cut into the shape of a pumpkin. Or, what is supposed to be a pumpkin. All of our cookie cutters were much too big, so we had to cut them by hand. I guess they don’t look too shabby, for paper and a knife. The basis for the frosting is a basic recipe. However, instead of using cream and vanilla for the liquid, we had some pumpkin-spice liqueur in the fridge, so we used that. We didn’t use so much that it’s over-powering, but just enough to taste it. To top them off, we sprinkled them with a bit of pumpkin-pie spice and cinnamon-and-sugar.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

It's Been Nuts Around Here!

We're back! We've been super busy around here. Between the start of the school year and on-line orders, the time just kind of ran away from us. It's been quite a while since we had a project to share.We didn't realize it's been a week though. So, for today's project, we have a cute little card to share:

It's a little hard to tell, but once again, the pop-dots came out on this card! The squirrel, acorn, and a few of the leaves pop up. And a card isn't complete without some glitter! This little squirrel is another easel card. Here it is, open:

The little guys on Create-a-Critter are just too cute! And with googly eyes, they're even cuter! We are entering this little guy into this week's BBtB2's Shape Up! Challenge.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Whoo's Ready for 4th Grade?

Happy Tuesday! We hope everyone had a fantastic long weekend. For most of us there won't be another one until October! On the bright side, that's only a month away :) But then again, we haven't actually started a new school year yet, so there shouldn't be anything to complain about, huh?! Anyway, as promised, we have another back-to-school classroom project. This is an apple tulle wreath we made this weekend:

 

OK, so it's supposed to be an apple. If we had to do it again, it would probably be made with a circle wreath form. But then again, it goes along with the "teaching is a work of heart" saying. So it works for this. Unfortunately, it had a little accident while we were making it:

The bright side? We realized that the two halves would make cute little candy canes for the upcoming holiday season. And we were able to put our broken heart back together will a little hot glue (which fixes almost everything!)

We decided to make the wreath because the door was in desperate need of some pizzazz. This is a view of the little "nameplate" on the wreath. It's not a great picture of the nameplate, but it's designed to look like a chalkboard (although there aren't many of those left!) Over the years, we've had so many people say our last name incorrect. Because of this, we realized that it's just like an owl's call, and tell the kids, "It's hoo, like an owl". It makes it easier for everyone. It is also the reason why we included the owls on yesterday's project. And, of course, he has little googly eyes, because they make everything better!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

A Crafty Back to School Gift

Welcome to another week! We hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend. We've been busy working on a ton of projects, mostly classroom decor. We have a few to share this week, but we'll start with our favorite!

Who wouldn't want to get this little gift for the first day of school?! There are a lot of teacher "survival kits" out there, with a range of things. This one is full of desk supplies that a teacher, and probably her students, would need for a successful year.

This is a picture of the paint can and top. These are a great way to use up all of your ribbon (and have an excuse to get more!!) And you can't give a gift without a card! It's a little hard to tell, but the paper used has a shimmer to it, to add a special touch. Of course we added googly eyes to both the owl and apple because everyone knows they make everything that much cuter!

This is a list of everything that was in the paint can. Our favorite? The last one about wanting a snow day! It's too bad we don't get too many of those.
We are entering our little teacher gift into this week's "Back to School & Classroom Favors" at Decorate to Celebrate.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for another (adorable) back to school project!