Labor Of Love For My Valentines

Hello, there!  I hope you had a wonderful Valentines Day and a nice President's Day weekend.  This year, I wanted to simplify the kid's Valentines Day gifts.  So I started out by making gifts for Jake's friends using all the things I have in my stash.

They were so simple that I finished them a couple of weeks before Valentines Day!

I was not sure what to make for Ryan's friends.  So I started to make these bears for my sons instead.  They turned out really cute and then Ryan wanted to me to make them for his friends.

I couldn't possibly finish 30 bears on time with all the activities we've been having lately and told him to save it for next year.  No, he begged and begged me to do so.

While working on these bears, my husband said he couldn't understand why I would spend the time doing this since some kids (the boys) would not appreciate them.  I told him it melted my heart to see Ryan cared enough about his friends to beg me to do them.  It's "Labor of Love" to me.  The next thing I knew, my husband sat down and asked me, "What can I do?"  That's so sweet since it's the first time he had ever crafted with me!

We finished 30 bears on time to pass them out to the 4th graders and teachers.  They loved them!  Some of the kids ran to me to say "Thank You" after school.  Other kids were snuggling and patting on the bears while showing their parents.  One particular boy, Ismael, emphasized, "Everyone liked them!" when I told him that I am glad he liked it.  I think 4th graders are perfect kids in receiving these bears.  They are not too young to take them for granted and they are not too old to feel embarassed to receive them. :)

My kids love them and can't thank us enough!  Who wouldn't when they are only about 2-1/2" tall?  Even the teachers were excited to receive them.

They are ADORABLE!  Thank you, Patty Bennett, for a great tutorial!

Danee

Ninjago Nugget Holders

I couldn't help making these Ninjago Nugget Holders after making this Ninjago card.  The punch art is really easy!

I use the Curly Label, Owl Builder and Wide Oval Punches.  The Paper Snips help trim the eyebrows.

These guys are ready for the boys in Jake's class for Valentines Day.

Have a great weekend!

Danee

The Grateful Melted Snowmen

Happy Belated New Year!  I hope you are having a great year so far!

I haven't posted for awhile as I have been preoccupied with many other things.  Truth is, I haven't been creating as much.  It has been more for an "as needed basis" so it's either CAS or CASE paper crafting and most of the time it's off seasonal.  So I haven't been sharing those off seasonal projects or forgot to take pictures of them.

I got volunteered at my kids' school to do some favors as a token of our appreciation for the team members who will be visiting their school to do the school accreditation this year. Today I want to share my Grateful Melted Snowmen.  I love snowman as even when Christmas is over, he can still hang around a little longer (until he melted).   The idea of Melted Snowman has been around for a few years now.  This one is CASE from LeeAnn Greff with my own twist of the gratitude snowball.  Sandwich in between the snowman is a peppermint patty.

Stamp Set:  Tiny Tags

Punches used:  1-3/4", 1-3/8" and 1" circle , 3/4" & 1" square , Build-A-Cupcake, and Snowflake punch (retired).  The nose is cut from one of the left over negative of a flower die.

I also made a Centerpiece for them to enjoy.  I used the Daisy #2 Die to do the Centerpiece.  I hot glued the flowers to the pens as stems.  I love how the Corduroy buttons add such a beautiful effect to the Gerber Daisies!

Until next time, have a wonderful day!

Danee

Cinco de Mayo Hats

What do you think?  Would these pass as Mexican hats?  They are so simple to make with a Rolo (from my kid's candy box) in the middle of a circle - embossed and curl up!  The little one looks more like a cowboy's hat, right? 

Feliz Cinco de Mayo to all my Mexican friends!

Danee

Angry Birds - Blue Bird

Good Morning!  It has been awhile since we created an Angry Birds character.  I made these nests based on Brenda Quintana's direction here. Thanks, Brenda!  I love your work!  These nests are so cute as they are, but they are for my sons so I want to add these little Blue Angry Birds to them!

The Blue Bird is a smallest and weakest character in the Angry Birds game.  However, it has the ability to split into a three identical birds to maximize its force.  It has with 3 different expressions, too. How fun!

I love the surprise and happy look, but to mass produce this bird, the close beak and no eye-liners will do a faster trick!  I don't know if anyone does this or not.  I love to do eye-liners (what I named it) on my punch pieces as shown on the surprised bird.  I hold the punch piece between my thumb and forefinger (or tweezers) and roll the edges on the ink pad.  It gets my fingers very inky and then sometimes it smears on the punch pieces.  However, it really define the punch art - much different than sponging!  Try it on a few pieces, but don't mass produce!  Ask me how I know.  Never mind, just look here.  :)

Have a wonderful Easter weekend and may God bless you and your family!

Danee

St. Patrick's Day Collection

Happy Leap Year! I am excited to share with you my new designs - St. Patrick's Day Collection!

Growing up, I understand very little about St. Patrick's Day. Green, Shamrock, Leprechaun and Pot of Gold somehow symbolize the 17th of March. If I ever find a four leaf clover, I will be lucky and if I don't wear green I'll be pinched! So what do they all mean?

St. Patrick's Day Collection Tutorial

Everyone wants to find that Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow, right? How did it get there? Legend had it that the Leprechaun, which means the little two-feet tall shoemaker who loved to dance and made shoes, hid the gold coins they received from their earnings in the pot. The Rainbow started from the time of Noah's Ark and it symbolized hope from the past storm. Since we can never find the end of the Rainbow, we have to catch the Leprechaun in order to find that Pot of Gold. It's not easy to catch the Leprechaun so we might as well forget about finding that Pot of Gold! So let's find some Shamrocks and four leaf clovers instead! So why do we call it St. Patrick's Day then?

St. Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland. His birth name was Maewyn Succat. He was kidnapped at around the age of 16 as slave in Ireland. After 6 years, he escaped and managed to return to his family in Britain.

St. Patrick had a desire to return to Ireland as a missionary and studied to be a priest. In 432 Pope Celestine consecrated him as a Bishop of Ireland and gave him the name "Patricius".

St. Patrick returned to Ireland. He made extensive, successful missionary journeys through all of Ireland, spending his time preaching, teaching, building churches, opening schools, monasteries and converting the Irish people. He used the Shamrocks to explain to the people of Ireland the meaning of Trinity. St. Patrick died on March 17th, 461. You can read more about St. Patrick here. I am so glad I get a chance to create St. Patrick punch art in honor of this very day!

Four leaf clovers are rare and have been mutated from the three leaf clover. If anyone ever finds one, it's consider lucky. The four leaves represent faith, hope, love and luck. Perhaps, the luck will bring you to that pot of gold! :)

You can now purchase my St. Patrick's Day Collection tutorial for only $4.99 on Tutorials for Sale Page! The tutorial is in a downloadable Adobe PDF file following your purchase.

I hope you'll have fun creating this Collection as much as I did!

Cheers!

Danee

President's Pies

In honor of President's Day, I make some pies.  No, not bake!  I got some really creative and great bakers in my family already so I create these pies from paper.  So I read that Washington and Lincoln both liked Cherry Pies!

I got the idea of the Pumpkin Pie from Lorri Heiling here.  I made a bunch of these Pumpkin Pie bookmarks before Christmas.  I remembered at that time, Jake, my 4-year old, told me they looked like flowers. :)  So with the Cherry Pies, I try to make the colors come closer to the real looking pies.  He agrees they look like pies!

Don't forget that we are still celebrating Sale-A-Bration.  Check out this post to see how you can get my Cute Critters Collection Tutorial for free!

Happy President's Day!

Danee

Sweet Tart Holders

So I was going to make a couple of Yellow Angry Birds that you've seen on this post for my 2 sons, but my older son wants his classmates to have them too.

I don't mind making them, but I had to simplify them a little bit. They turn out good and even my husband ends up grabbing a few to give away.  Don't they look like a flock of Angry Birds demanding for Love? :)

So I got rid of the tail, the eye-liners, and stamped heart. I think the red glimmer paper for the hearts is better! 

Edit for Update:  Since I got a lot of requests on how to make this Angry Bird.  So Here it is.  Start with 6" x 3" of Daffodil Delight and score @ 3" on the long side and follow the video from Angie Juda's Triangle Box.

2-1/2" Circle Punch = body (white).
1/2" Circle and Cupcake Builder Punches = eyes (White/Black CS)
Small Oval Punch (new version)  = bottom part of the beak (More Mustard)
Hand cut eyebrows (Cajun Craze) diagonally (not exactly from corner to corner) after cut the piece into 5/8" x 1/4"
Hand cut upper part of the beak (More Mustard) at corner of CS
Small Heart (red glimmer paper)
Black Satin Ribbon = head feather

My 4-year old doesn't want to give his friends the Angry Birds (Whew!). I simplify this Sweet Tart Holder even more. No ribbon and no stamping inside.  I just add Velcro inside.  It's for 4 year old toddlers! :)

Edit for Update:  This Sweet Tart bag holder is cut at 8-1/2" x 4".  Score at 2-3/4" and 3-7/8" on the long side.  Cut diagonally as shown above for inside opening.

Have a great Valentines!

Danee

You Got Mail!

This is an old idea and it's not mine.  New color combination, stamps, and paper make these mailboxes so cute!

Stamps:  P.S. I Love You, Fresh Vintage

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Riding Hood Red, and Twitterpated DSP

Accessories: Postage Stamp and Heart to Heart Punches,  SNAIL, Sticky Strips, and Hershey Nuggets.

Have a great day!

Danee

Happy Chinese New Year!

This card was supposed to be posted last week. The Cute Critters for Valentines ended up with the attention!  Check out that post to see how you can get free tutorials for them.

I've been inspired by red envelopes for Chinese New Year and Mary Fish's layout for this card. I love how the Everyday Enchantment DSP and the Label Framelit bring out a beautiful scenery in this card. "Happy New Year" has been isolated with Stampin' Marker from one of the stamps from Delightful Dozens stamp set. It reminds me of either a dragon or snake. This is the year of the Dragon! How perfect is that?  Gold embossing around the rims of the bowl and vase gives this card the Oriental look.  The tiny flowers from Pocket Silhouettes stamp set also reminds me of the fancy fans from Asia.

Don't forget to check out Inking Everything with Becky!  The fun will begin in a couple of days.  Check out the previews that Becky has been posting on her blog, Inking Idado!  It's not too late to sign up.

Just a reminder, when you order from me, make sure you click on the tab above (Shop) or the link on the right of my blog.  Otherwise, you won't get the Hostess dollars that you earn when your order is $150 or more.

Enjoy!

Danee