Three years later…the lady in Fuchsia

March is always a special month because on the 17th we get to celebrate another year of Our Daily Bread designs spreading His word through the stamping and crafting community.

This month’s ODBDLYLS3 challenge is:

* fuchsia flowers or the color fuchsia for the  anniversary flower OR
*crystal or glass for the anniversary modern gift (this can be faux crystal gems, a glass embellishment, etc.), AND

*ODBD stamps

I created this 12x12 layout for Kelley which I’ll be framing and sending to her as a gift:

The scripture is from the As You Graduate set which I thought summed up her third year in business:

Although the photo wasn’t the sharpest it was my favorite I have of Kelley.  I snapped this picture at last year’s CHA in Anaheim after she spotted this fuchsia hat in a store at Downtown Disney.  I thought it would be fun to just keep the color of the hat and black and white the rest of the photo. I snuck in the Butterfly Single, too.

I added paper fuchsia flowers to my butterfly vine and a few other flowers.  It wouldn’t have been complete without my Zva swirls…the “glass” rhinestones were the perfect touch!

Scrapbook Layout Recipe

Stamp: ODBD As You Graduate, Butterfly Single

Ink: Time Holtz Antique Linen, Versamark

Paper: K & Company Life’s Journey, DCWV La Crème, Stampin’ Up! Pixie Pink

Accessories: Cricut Plantin SchoolBook cartridge, Graphic 45 Botanical cut-out, Reflections Mulberry Butterfly Vine, paper fuchsia flowers, large gold brads, Zva Creative Pearls, black embossing powder

Christian Survival Kit using ODBD stamps!

As promised, I’m sharing another survival kit, a Christian Survival Kit, I put together using scripture stamps from various Our Daily Bread designs sets and Glue Dots®.

Here’s what the outside of the box looks like using the single Butterfly single stamp and die:

When the band closure is removed a beautiful faith sentiment from the Faith stamp set is revealed:

I filled the inside with items and treats that could be associated with the scriptures.  On one side of the card is a scripture and on the other side is the item or treat:

Here’s a list of what’s inside:

• Matthew 5:14,16 – A candle to remind us to be a light in someone else’s day
• 1 John 4:6 – A Hershey’s Kiss to remember that love should be a part of every day
• Jeremiah 30-17 – A Band-Aid to remember God heals all wounds
• John 3:16 – A York peppermint patty to remind you that you are worth a mint to others
• Romans 8:28 – A rubber band to remember to be flexible
• Proverbs 3:5,6 – A Butterfinger bar because we all slip sometimes and it’s okay
• Jeremiah 18:6 – A puzzle piece to remember that without God we are not complete
• Ephesians 2:8 – A pen to remember to list your daily blessings
• Philippians 4:6 – A stick of gum so you can stick with it.  With God you can accomplish anything
• Psalm 46:1 – A Life Saver to remember that the Lord is there to help
• 1 Chronicles 16:34 – A packet of tea to remember to relax and go over that list of blessings

This was an absolute joy for me to create and I hope you give it a try!  All instructions can be found in my post just below this or click HERE.

Survival Kit Recipe

Stamp: ODBD Faith, Butterfly single and Butterfly die, scriptures from various ODBD sets

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, ODBD Dusty Rose

Paper: Stampin’ Up! (Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Gable Green)

Accessories: Sizzix Bigz XL Box #3, Cuttlebug Polka Dots embossing folder, Spellbinders (Eyelet Circles, Classic Circles Small, Classic Circles Large), white satin ribbon, please refer to above list for treats and supplies

Repurpose those mini glass ornaments!

I have had a box of mini glass ornaments sitting in a drawer for almost two years.  I pulled them out and set them on my craft table and stared at them…and stared…and stared..then LIGHT BULB!  I saw lollipop sticks in the corner of my eye and this was born:

I cut strips of colorful printed papers and rolled them up (some tight some not-so-tight), pushed them inside each ornament and stuck lollipop sticks into them and presto!  A “flower bulb” for my bouquet!

I placed enough rolled paper inside the ornaments that it held the stick securely.

The best part was that I was able to attach the bows with Glue Dots® Glue Lines which made it a quick and easy embellishment!

I still felt my flower pot was missing something and so I reached for a butterfly from my stash of “I’ll-buy-these-now-because-I’ll-use-them-someday” and adhered with a Glue Dots® Craft Dot to a simple tag.

I always include a card with my gifts so I reached for my always-needed Our Daily Bread designs stamp to finish it off:

Here are the instructions for the flower bulb bouquet:

1.  Cut strips of designer papers and roll.  Vary the tightness of your rolls.  Remove the tops of the ornaments and fill with the rolled papers.  Push paper rolls with the end of a lollipop stick to arrange inside the ornament if needed.

2.  Adhere a strip of 1" Glue Line® to the neck of each ornament.  Attach ribbon onto Glue Line® and tie a bow.  Insert lollipop sticks into ornaments.

3.  Fill the inside of clay pot with moss.  Pack moss tightly inside.  Push in "flower bulbs" into moss. 

4.  Stamp sentiment with Versamark and heat emboss with black powder.  Punch a small hole on the corner of brithday tag, insert wire of butterfly through hole and push into moss.

5.  Cut out the inner circle of paper doily and slip onto the clay pot from the bottom.  Adhere with Mini Dot N Go® to create ruffles.

You can easily turn this into a Christmas bouquet using red and greens or silvers and blues…anything!

Happy Crafting!!

(I wrote this post while participating on the Glue Dots® design team.)

Flower Bulb Pot Recipe

Glue Dots®: Glue Lines, Craft Dot N Go, Craft Dot Roll,  Mini Dot N Go

Stamps: ODBD Happy Birthday

Ink: Versamark

Paper: DCWV Spring Matt Stack

Accessories: mini glass ornaments, silk ribbon, lollipop sticks, moss, miniature tall clay pot, black embossing powder, butterfly accent

Card Recipe

Glue Dots®: Craft Dot N Go, Pop-Up Perforated Sheets

Stamps: ODBD Happy Birthday

Ink: Versamark

Paper: DCWV Spring Matt Stack

Accessories: paper doily, Dew Drop, Martha Stewart Classic Butterfly Punch

A Fall “bouquet” for teacher

I knew I wanted to make a little gift for my son’s teacher and I kept going back and forth whether to make it a Halloween theme or a Fall one.  I also thought “What do teachers need in their classroom all the time?”.  I finally decided on a Fall gift with Halloween colors and what do teachers need at all times…pencils, of course!  So I decided to get a package of #2 Ticonderoga pencils because they were black rather than a yellow-orange which was perfect for my “bouquet”:

I filled my $1.00 bucket I got from Target with Pumpkin Spice Hershey’s Kisses and Glue Dot®-ed my flowers on the tops of the unsharpened pencils.

I made the flowers using the Quilled Chrysanthemum Kit from Cuttlebug.  I like to use my Glue Dots® Minis to help keep the rolled papers in place. I apply the top half of a Glue Dot® Mini on the strip of paper, roll a little, then fold up the bottom of the Mini and roll some more.  I did this with all the flower layers.  This helps save on the amount of adhesive you use.  I try to be frugal :). Once you have all your flowers just add a Mini Glue Dot® on the tops of the pencils and stick your flowers on.

I applied Craft Glue Dots® to the decorative strip of paper for my bucket which made it super easy to complete!

Students can “pick flowers” if they need a pencil and my son’s teacher can indulge in some Hershey’s Kisses :).

(I wrote this post while participating in the Glue Dots® design team.)

Fall Bouquet Recipe

Glue Dots®: Mini, Craft

Stamp: ODBD Happy Fall

Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black

Paper: DCWV Fall Stack

Accessories: Cuttlebug Quilled Chrysanthemum Kit, small bucket, pencils, Spellbinders Assorted Leaves, EK Success Parisian border punch, chocolate candy, black organza ribbon, purple pearl, twine

Autumn makes me think of maple for some reason…

Wow, I didn’t even notice it’s been that long since my last post!  I’ve been quite busy with something really exciting and there’s just so much behind the scenes and prep work going on.  I’ll share those news later when we’ve got everything ironed out :).

For today, I have something sweet once again.  Whenever I think of the autumn season I think of maple, as in maple syrup…is that strange?  I’m not really sure if maple syrup is even harvested during autumn, but it’s just stuck in my mind. I had to let the thought out through cupcakes, of course!  I made French Toast cupcakes with MAPLE cream cheese frosting sprinkled with MAPLE bacon bits and paired it with a card using the Don’t Worry! and Harvest Blessings sets from Our Daily Bread designs:

My baking helpers sprinkling on the maple bacon.  I had to keep an eye on them to make sure they weren’t eating the bacon.  No “a sprinkle of bacon for the cupcake and a handful of bacon for me” happenings.  Don’t feel sorry for them because I did fry some up for them to gobble up :).

These mini cupcakes are perfect for a quick breakfast on the go!  Yes, I would have thought the bacon thing was a little weird for sweet cupcakes, but I saw an episode of Cupcake Wars where a baker added bacon and strawberries for a cupcake topping and I figured why not?  Bacon and French toast sounded like a winner to me and from the looks of my sons chowing down on them they were YUMMILICIOUS!

But if I must be honest, I cheated…I doctored up a cake mix AND ready-made frosting . Here’s the super simple recipe:

French Toast Cupcakes

1 box of yellow cake mix

1 package of vanilla instant pudding mix (3.4 oz)

1 1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup oil

3 large eggs

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

*Blend all ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth.  Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350°F for 15 minutes for standard size cupcakes.  For minis, bake at 325°F for 18 minutes.  I like minis since all you do is unwrap and pop the whole thing in your mouth!

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 can of ready-made cream cheese frosting

1 tbsp. maple syrup

*Stir in maple syrup and pipe onto cupcakes. 

Bake or fry up some maple bacon, crumble into small pieces and sprinkle over cupcakes.

===>Grab a cup of cold milk or hot latte and enjoy!

Card Recipe

Stamp: ODBD Don’t Worry! and Harvest Blessings

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Basic Grey Max & Whiskers, Stampin’ Up! (Garden Green, Summer Sun), watercolor paper

Accessories: Martha Stewart Layered Arches punches (border and corner), Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder, Spellbinders (Classic Square Small, Classic Scalloped Square Small), Ranger Super Fine black detail embossing powder, rhinestones, yellow organza ribbon, Scor-Pal (to create box), acetate, watercolor markers, 1/4” Scor-Tape

 

Baby Keepsake Flower Ornament and instructions!

I was asked by several people for instructions on how I made the Harvest Blessings flower ball ornament.  The flower ornament is known as a “kusudama ball”.  Although the idea is not mine, I decided to create step-by-step photo instructions because I myself had to search quite a bit on the web for instructions (some were clear on certain aspects while not-so-clear on others).  I had a heck of a time trying to figure out how to glue the whole thing together so it is my hope that my instructions will be clear enough for anyone to create their own kusudama ball.
Here is another finished project using a different fold, this time a baby keepsake ornament using an adorable digital image from *Wink*Wink Ink called Special Delivery.  I made this for the *Wink*Wink Ink August Challenge #2 of using metal (I added silver bead caps to the origami flower centers) :

 

I created these instructions so that you may print them out and practice putting a kusudama ball together.  The first set of instructions show how to create the flower from the Harvest Blessings ornament. The second set shows how to create the flower from the baby keepsake ornament.  The third shows how to put the whole thing together.  I use 3” square sheets, but you may use larger pieces for an even bigger kusudama!  Don’t let the amount of square sheets scare you.  Do what I do and fold throughout the day, especially during commercial breaks of your favorite shows!  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding my instructions.

NOTE: You will not be able to read the directions embedded in some of the images even if you click to enlarge photos. 

You can find downloadable pdf files by clicking HERE.

 

 

Baby Keepsake Ornament Recipe

Digital Stamp: *Wink*Wink Ink Special Delivery

Paper: My Minds Eye

Accessories: Glue Dots Continuous Glue Lines, silver cording, beads, bead end caps, pink rhinestones

ODBD August Blog Hop Time!!

Hello everyone and welcome to Our Daily Bread design's Aug 1 release blog hop!

If you came from Connie’s blog, you are in the right place! If you just happened to have stumbled upon my blog or if you get lost along the way or any links are broken, just return to the ODBD Blog for the full list of links! We hope you enjoy this months sets as much as we do!!!
This month Kelley is giving away THREE Gift Certificates of $15.00 toward stamps at the ODBD Store! To make it a little more fun ... the prizes are hidden on three different blogs and you won't know which ones, so be sure to leave a comment on each DT blog, because three blog owners will be choosing a winner from their commenters now through Aug 2, 8pm Eastern! So grab your favorite beverage and enjoy the hop! Be sure to return to the ODBD Blog and leave a comment there that you completed the hop and left comments for everyone, noting there if there were any you could not comment on. The hop will close at 8pm eastern tomorrow night (Aug 2). The winners will be announced Tues. on the ODBD Blog!
Today, I’d like to share with you the art of origami.  I created this flower ball using the new sets Don’t Worry! and Harvest Blessings:

Thank you for visiting and I hope you enjoyed my project today. From here, hop over to Randi’s blog to see what loveliness she has created!

Here are more pictures from different angles (please click to enlarge):

 

This is the back:

Although the project took me a whole day to complete (60 square pieces had to be folded and to each petal had to be glued to each other!) it was well worth the effort! 

Origami Harvest Recipe

Stamps: ODBD Don’t Worry! and Harvest Blessings

Ink: Versamark

Paper: unknown

Accessories: Ranger Super Fine Detail gold embossing powder, gold cording, jewelry beads, Spellbinders Petite Ovals Large

A gift for a very special occasion

My husband’s niece had her First Communion ceremony this past Saturday and I wanted to give her something that would help her commemorate such a special occasion with a little memory book for her to fill with pictures and a bookmark for her bible. I used my Bind-It-All and Spellbinders to create these for her:

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful ceremony and we hope that each of the children will continue to receive communion with the same feeling of excitement and wonder as their very first. It was truly a blessing to witness it!

Gift Ensemble Recipe

Stamp: ODBD First Holy Communion

Ink: Versamark, ODBD Pink

Paper: Basic Grey Green at Heart, Stampin Up (Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla), watercolor paper

Accessories: Bind-It-All (6x6 white cover, cream inserts, 3/4 Antique Silver O-Wire), Spellbinders (Cross Collection, Fancy Tags, Large Scallop Circles, Classic Large Circles), Basic Grey Opaline Pearls, Zva Creative Pearls, EK Success Crochet Lace Edge punch, pink rhinestones, cross rhinestone, Prima Daisy Dreams (Ballet, Key Lime), Shimmerz (Angel Wings, Golden Wheat), Glue Dots, watercolor markers, computer generated personalization

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week and Glue Dots goodies!

We love to show our teachers and staff over at Ronald Reagan Elementary how much we appreciate all their hard work in furthering our children’s education so I took the time to make some extra special treats, thanks to bakerella.com. I took her creation and mixed and matched flavors to create my own cake pops!

Here are two cake pop bouquets made with chocolate or vanilla covered yellow cake with toasted coconut and colored sugar sprinkles:

This carrot cake bouquet is for one of my son’s teacher who loves carrot cake and the colors blue and pink. The border and sentiment is from the Give Thanks and Vine Borders sets by Our Daily Bread designs and the gorgeous pink Prima Lilies can be found over at McMahon Five Designs:

Here’s an Oreo Truffle pop and what these and the cake pops look like when I…umm…took a taste test. Hey, all bakers should always taste their creations for quality control…ALWAYS! LOL!

So, did you gain 5 lbs. just by looking at the sinfully sweet treats? I made sure to give them all away. Well, except for maybe 2 or 3 or 5. For my kids…for my kids! Sheesh! LOL!

On another sweet but CALORIE-FREE note…I was chosen as Glue Dots Fan of the Week over on Facebook and look at the goodies they sent me:

Thank you, Glue Dots!! I was running low so these will definitely be put to good use! If you haven’t used them, you really should. They have all different kinds for all your crafting needs!

Thanks for taking a look at my baked goods! Sorry if I made you drool….

Earrings in a cake box!

Here’s another Easter gift I made. This time I dusted off my Cricut Expression and cut out a 10” cake box. I seriously need to give my Cricut machine some love more often because it makes crafting so much easier! For this project I used beautiful ODBD Easter Blessings set and the colors for the current Color Dare (CD61) and for the Cuttlebug Challenge (Be Inspired #74 Easter project):

The earrings are little turtles and I thought they would be perfect for our niece. We’re giving our nieces earrings this year so I have two more cake boxes to do :).

I know I promised ODBD April sneak peeks today, but I’m running a little behind. Stop by my fellow Breadsticks’ blogs since several are offering sneak peeks! I’ll have mine up tomorrow so be on the look out!

Thank you to my new Followers! If you aren’t a Follower yet, please become one as I will be giving away some awesome candy for my blogoversary in May. I have a countdown widget on the left so you’ll know when it’s time :).

Cake Box Recipe

Stamp: ODBD Easter Blessings

Ink: Versamark, SU Pretty in Pink

Paper: Memory Box Frond, SU (Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery), Canson watercolor paper

Accessories: Cricut (Expression machine, Tags, Bag, Boxes & More cartridge), Cuttlebug Holly Ribbon embossing folder, Fiskars Effervescence border punch, black embossing powder, black and silver trim, Spellbinders Classic Oval Small, watercolor markers, Glue Dots 1" Glue Lines

Teacher Gifts for Valentine’s Day

Ahhh, love is in the air! Well, love mixed in with some rain. How does that one song go…”It never rains in Southern California”…WRONG! But, hey, we need it so we’ll take it whenever we can. I know I promised Valentine cards last week, but I’m currently suffering from a really bad intestinal infection and haven’t been well enough to create until now. My apologies! I hope my projects will make up for that :).

Another big holiday, which means gift giving time! I decided to make really simple gifts for both my sons’ teachers, but each unique in their own way :).

My first ensemble is an easel card (FTTC53) using this week’s MMSC40 and Penny Black’s Every Which Way set that is available over at Paper Garden Projects. I made little monogrammed binder clips that you can see a close-up of on the other ensemble I created.

Gosh, I’ve forgotten how cute all the little Penny Black hedgies were! I braided three colors of ribbon together and tied three knots to add some interest. Make sure to swing by the PGP Store to see what’s currently on sale.

Hedgehog Gift Ensemble Recipe

Stamp: Every Which Way set

Ink: Versamark

Paper: Hearts Bloom Paper Kit, SU Basic Brown, watercolor paper

Accessories: chipboard clipboard, black binder clips, computer generated sentiment, ribbons-buttons-Dew Drops(from Hearts Bloom Paper Kit), Crystal Stickles, black embossing powder, paper floss, Prima Flowers, Spellbinders

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This next ensemble is for my other son’s teacher. As you can see, I tried to make both unique in their own way. For this one I used the colors from the CC257 challenge over at Splitcoast and MOJO125 for the sketch:

I love digi’s that don’t require any coloring on my part, especially if I want to pull something together really quick and the Valentine Heart from McMahon Five Designs. It's red, but I changed it to a rust color for the SCS color challenge on my Photoshop Elements program. I just printed the heart three times and cut them using my Spellbinders to add dimension.

I hope my sons’ teachers like them because we truly do appreciate them!

Stop by McMahon Five Designs to find out the current specials!

Valentine Heart Gift Ensemble

Digi: Valentine Heart

Paper: Fancy Pants I’m Yours, SU cardstock (Soft Sky, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa)

Accessories: chipboard clipboard, black binder clips, white flatback pearls, Fiskar’s Effervescence border punch, computer generated monogram and tag, brown grosgrain ribbon, craft button, white paper floss, Dew Drops (Mens), Spellbinders (Scalloped Circles Small, Classic Circles Small

Paper Garden Projects news and Halloween treats!

I just got wonderful news that I am now on the Paper Garden Projects design team!! YAY!! Thank you, Cathrine, for the fabulous opportunity to design for you! Please visit the rest of the team's blogs for excellent ideas and inspiration:

Melissa (Mel) McCarthy

Tracy Durcan

Debbie Sheunemann

Amber Goble

Tangii Crain

Tricia Traxler

Make sure to visit the Paper Garden Projects store because there are several specials going on right now! I'll be posting a project for PGP real soon so please stay tuned!

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I was busy baking last night because I wanted to give a little something special and SWEET to my sons' teachers and our neighbors. I baked up some DELICIOUS Pumpkin Mochi! Mochi is Japanese sticky cake and it is DIVINE! You'll find the recipe at the bottom of my post.

Pumpkin Mochi...yummy!!

The packaging makes all the difference...and my trusty Glue Dots!

I made Autumn tags for those who don't celebrate Halloween.

I got the large black treat boxes at Target. The smaller treat boxes were from World Market.

I sprayed the tags with Glimmer Mist (they are non-toxic which is awesome!). The tombstone is a Martha Stewart punch. Love the "R.I.P." embossing!

Pumpkin Mochi Recipe:
1 Box of Mochiko
4 eggs
2 cups of sugar
29 oz. can of pumpkin
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 sticks of butter, melted
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin spice
2 tsp. cinnamon

Lightly spray a 13x9 dish with vegetable oil.

In a large bowl:
Beat eggs. Add pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, sweetened condensed milk and melted butter

In a smaller bowl:
Mix together Mochiko, baking powder, cinnamon and pumpkin spice.

Add dry mix to wet mix. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Let cool completely and enjoy!!