Go Green!

Howdy folks!
I just love the color green! I think it might be my favorite color! I especially love it when the grass starts to turn green! Springtime is my favorite season and St Patrick's Day is right around the corner!
At my Stamper's Night Out Tuesday we made these adorable little St Patrick's Day baskets! They are the perfect size to hold some of the fun little chocolate coins! I brought my sewing machine and let the girls sew their baskets and I think they enjoyed it! Sewing on paper projects is easier than you think! I think it's actually easier than sewing on fabric!

To make this sweet basket you will need:
Big Shot Machine
Baskets and Blooms Die
Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder
Lucky Shamrock Stamp
Circle Punch
Markers (Daffodil Delight and Old Olive)
Shimmery White Cardstock
Kraft or Soft Suede Cardstock
Old Olive Cardstock
Decorative Label Punch
Crop-a-Dile
Satin Ribbon
Sewing Machine (Optional)

Directions:
1. Take a piece of your Kraft cardstock and position it so that you only cut out the two basket pieces.
2. Take your two die cut basket pieces and emboss them with the Vintage Wallpaper folder.
3. Adhere the two baskets pieces together OR sew around the three sides with your sewing machine. I used a zig zag stitch.
4. Take your Lucky Shamrock stamp and color it with the markers. Huff on the stamp to remoisten the image and stamp onto shimmery white cardstock. Punch the image out with the circle punch.
5. Use your Decorative Label punch to punch a label out of the Old Olive cardstock. Use your Crop-a-Dile to punch a hole in the top. Adhere the stamped circle onto the Old Olive label with a foam adhesive square.
6. Tie your label onto your basket with the satin ribbon.
7. Fill the basket with chocolate coins or other green goodies!

This is a fun, quick project that is so cute! The Big Shot die cut machine that I used to make this card is by far my favorite die cut machine! I have four different machines from four different companies and the Big Shot is by far the best, in my opinion! It will cut any dies that you might already have from other machines! I have several SNO ladies getting the machine and I will be doing Big Shot classes with them!
If you are interested in purchasing the Big Shot or have ANY questions about it or this card please don't be shy! Send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com and I would be happy to answer your questions!
I have also set the date for our April Stamper's Night Out! It will be on April 12th at 6:30pm at the Scrappin Pad! More details to come!
With spring upon us SUMMER is right around the corner! That means Stampin Up's new Summer Mini Catalog will be popping up in mailboxes everywhere! If you would like to be one of the firsts to receive it simply send me an email with your mailing address ASAP! I would love to send you one!

Chocolate!

Hello all! I'm back from a little trip to Arkansas to visit my wonderful cousins!
Today I thought I would post a few simple little cards I made for the Habitat for Humanity Chocolate Festival we had a table at recently! We had a pretty table with all sorts of yummy chocolate items and I thought the Eat Chocolate stamp set was perfect! I made several sets of these cards and put them around the table! Everyone thought they were funny! If you click on the photo you can read what they say.
The colors I used were Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, and Early Espresso. I also used several different border punches. They were quick and easy to make!
Well this will be a short post! I'm getting ready for my Stamper's Night Out tomorrow as well as catching up on laundry! ;)

March Stamper's Night Out!

Wow it's already MARCH!!! This makes me one happy lady! Green grass and daffodils make me smile!
I think you can see my love of springtime in the cards we will be making for the March Stamper's Night Out! I've shared a sneak peek above! We will be making these 3 cards PLUS two others! I will be showing you some FUN new techniques and you will leave with 5 beautiful handmade projects!
We will make projects for springtime, Easter, wedding, St Patrick's Day, and thank you. (As in all my classes I will bring plenty of sentiments to choose from!) You will be able to customize your cards for whatever occasion you would like!

March Stamper's Night Out
March 8 @6:30pm
at the Scrappin Pad
You must email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com to reserve your spot!

Please bring these supplies:
(If you do not have these I will have them for you to use)
Your Favorite Adhesive(s)
Fine Tip Scissors
Stamp-a-ma-Jig
Paper Piercer
Blender Pen


Stamper's Night Out is a fun and relaxed environment where everyone works at their own pace. If you are new to papercrafting I would love to have you!
This will be a FUN class! Dress comfy and be prepared to GET CRAFTY! ;)
If you have ANY questions please don't hesitate to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
Hope to see you there!

It's a Girl!

Okay my friends...don't get too excited! I'm not preggers!! My wonderful friend Christie's daughter-in-law is! Congrats Ciara! Christie owns the Scrappin Pad which happens to be right down the road from my house! It's a wonderful scrapbook retreat where I teach classes! Christie is one awesome gal and if you ever want to stay at a beautiful CLEAN cute scrapbook retreat you should check it out! PLUS I could come and see you! ;)
She asked me to make Ciara's baby shower invitations and I was very excited to do so! Ciara chose the colors and she loved how they turned out.
I stamped and hand colored the little onesie and hearts from the Baby Bundle set. I love how they turned out! :)
So I'm sorry I have been absent for a while! I've missed everyone!
I have been wearing my scrapbooking hat and working on scrapbook layouts that you will see in Creating Keepsakes this summer!


Before I go I have to share this FUN blog award I received from Julie DiMatteo! I was so surprised to come back from my blog hiatus to see she awarded me the Cherry on Top Blog Award! Thank you so much Julie! You made my day! :)
So now I have to pass it on to 5 wonderful bloggers and list 3 things about myself!
Here are some fun bloggers:
1. Michelle Last
2. My friend Kris from SUDSOL
3. Patty Bennett
4. My Stampin Up Upline Kris
5. Amy Celona
Love your blogs girls! :)

So here are my 3 things!
1. My sweet hubby and I have been together for 18 years and have been married for 9! Our parents went to high school together(yes both of our parents were high school sweethearts as well) and we have known each other almost our whole lives. I used to go over to his house and play all the time. We were even boyfriend and girlfriend through many elementary and junior high school years.
I had a layout published about it a couple of years ago in CK.

2. I LOVE to cook almost more than I LOVE to eat! ;) I cook at least 6 nights a week. I share recipes sometimes on my personal blog, Scrap Happens.
3. It's near impossible to embarrass me. The only person that can achieve that is my son when he misbehaves in public! Luckily it doesn't happen very often!
I have no problem getting on stage or speaking in front of people. As a matter of fact my DREAM JOB is selling stuff on QVC!!
I LOVED being in theater in high school and college! No one would EVER describe me as shy....right Christi? ;)

Well I hope you enjoyed the invitation share today! If you have any questions about recreating it yourself just send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
Please remember that Sale-a-Bration ends March 31st! If you want to host a Stampin Up night OR place an order let me know!

Happy Color

When I first saw this color combo in the Color Coach I knew I had to use it! These colors together just seemed so happy! Haha! That may seem crazy, but if you love color like I do you totally get it! ;)
It took me a while to figure out a card that was right for it! Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, and Pumpkin Pie are very beautiful, but bright colors! I was flipping through an older issue of Paper Crafts magazine a few weeks ago and a card caught my eye. I thought it would be perfect for this color combo! Between now and then I have cleaned the scrap room several times and can't remember what issue the card was in! If I come across it I will gladly give credit to the artist that inspired this card!

Supplies:
4x5.5 inch white card
Silhouette Sentiments Stamp Set (Hostess Set)
Ink in Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock in Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Melon Mambo Ribbon
Small Oval Punch
Scallop Oval Punch
Stamp-a-ma-Jig

Scrap piece of cardstock

Directions:
*It is very important to use the Stamp-a-ma-Jig on this card. I'm going to assume you are using this to line up your stamps so I am not going to include this in the directions.
1. Cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock to 5x3.5 inches.
2. You will be stamping your flowers at about .75 of an inch from the top of the cardstock. Start stamping on the left with the Melon Mambo ink.
3. Ink your stamp and stamp once on the cardstock. Stamp two more times without re-inking your stamp. (You may have to huff on the stamp to remoisten the ink.)
4. Next you will stamp with the Pumpkin Pie ink. Ink your stamp and stamp off twice on your scrap piece of paper and stamp the first Pumpkin Pie flower.
5. Ink your stamp again with Pumpkin Pie and stamp off once on your scrap piece of paper and stamp your second Pumpkin Pie flower.
6. Ink your stamp again with Pumpkin Pie and stamp the third flower without stamping off.
7. Last you will stamp with Pacific Point ink. Ink your stamp and stamp once on the cardstock. Stamp two more times without re-inking your stamp. (You may have to huff on the stamp to remoisten the ink.)
8. Cut a piece of Pacific Point cardstock to slightly smaller than your card front. Adhere to the front of the card.
8. Adhere your stamped piece on your Pacific Point cardstock.
9. Adhere your ribbon along the bottom of the stamped flowers.
10. Punch a scallop oval out of the Pumpkin Pie cardstock. Stamp your sentiment onto Whisper white with Pacific Point ink. Punch out with the small oval punch and adhere the the scallop oval. Adhere just below the knot in your ribbon.

I hope you love this card as much as I do! You could use just about any color combo!
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
I hope you have a fab Friday!!








ETA: I found the magazine! Wahoo! I very rarely CASE or scraplift so it was very important to me that I find the magazine and give credit where it's due!
This card was inspired by a card in the new Papercrafts special Stamp It issue. The card is on page 86 and it's by Cristina Kowalczyk. Thank you Cristina for the inspiration! :)

Love Make-n-Take

Happy Thursday! The snow is still here and so are my hubby and son! Eric goes back to work tomorrow, but Brodey doesn't have school! That's why I am posting so late today!
This fun and simple card is actually a Make-n-Take I will be doing this weekend at the Scrappin Pad! 11 ladies have decided to brave the elements and crop 'til they drop this weekend! I think they will enjoy this card!
I know that most of you won't be at the Scrappin Pad this weekend so I'm going to share my supplies and directions here for you! The stamp set is called Love Defined. I've used it on several cards I have posted HERE and HERE. It's available in the Occasions Mini Catalog for a limited time.

Supplies:
White 4x5.5 inch card
Cardstock in Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Melon Mambo
Love Defined Stamp Set
Small Oval Punch
Circle Punch
Scallop Oval Punch
Ink in Whisper White Craft, Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze
Markers in Melon Mambo and Baja Breeze
Embossing Folder

Directions:
1. Cut a piece of Melon Mambo cardstock to 2x4 inches. Emboss with embossing folder and Big Shot machine. Take your Whisper White craft ink and ink the raised portion of the embossed image.
2. Take your embossed piece, place it on the card, and use a pencil to lightly trace along the top and bottom. (These pencil lines will act as a guide for you to stamp the heart strings.)
3. Take the heart strings stamp, ink with Baja Breeze ink, and stamp over the pencil marks.
4. Adhere your embossed piece of cardstock where you drew the pencil lines. (Apply your adhesive to the card so that you do not flatten out the embossed design.)
5. Punch a scallop circle out of the Baja Breeze cardstock.
6. Stamp your flamingo stamp onto Whisper White cardstock using Melon Mambo ink. Punch out with the circle punch and adhere to the Baja Breeze scallop circle. Adhere to the card.
7. Use your markers to color the love stamp as shown in the photo above. Huff on the stamp to remoisten the image and stamp onto Whisper White cardstock. Punch out with the small oval punch and adhere to the card.

This is a very cute and simple card that uses some fun techniques! Just about any color combo would work!
Well I'm headed to bed! I'll be posting a very colorful card tomorrow!

Thinking of You

Happy Wednesday! I'm snowed in with the hubby and son! I'm lucky I was able to finish this card! ;)
I stamped this colorful card with the Sweet Summer set from the Sale-a-Bration catalog! (Aw summer would be VERY sweet right now! Haha!) You can view Sale-a-Bration items HERE!
I simply stamped the different images with Stampin Up ink to create this scene. I then took my blender pen and blended the stamped color into the image! Quick and easy with beautiful results!
If you have any questions about this card please don't hesitate to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
The boys are trying to find me! I think I'll go hide in the laundry room! ;)