Small Gift Idea

Happy Thursday! 

I was in need of a small gift for someone, so I put together this little package.  I know she likes spice chai tea, so I picked up a few packets from the coffee shop and put them in a glassine bag.  (I love these for packaging things - I ordered these from Emma's Paperie.)  Then I just made a paper wrap with some Pink Paislee paper, some punches, and some alpha stickers.  So simple, but it makes a cute, fun, little gift. 

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

-Rachel-

More Thank You's

Hello!  Do you ever catch yourself talking to yourself?  (All the time!)  Well, I'm kind of feeling like I'm talking to myself on here!  Is anybody out there?? :) 

Well, regardless of who's looking, I thought I'd share a couple more Thank You cards that I made for the Gallery Idol contest.  Yesterday was the final day to enter, and there were an amazing 685 cards that were entered.  I think I entered 6 cards. (so the odds aren't so hot.)  But at least I have some more thank you cards on hand, and they always come in handy.  I'm still trying to come up with a nice end-of-year gift for Lexie's teacher.  She had such a great year of kindergarten with her.  Anyone have any new, creative ideas for teacher gifts? 

This first one was actually inspired by a quilt pattern I found online.  It was then I realized that I need to borrow some of my mom's quilting books for more card ideas!!  The stitching was a "little" tedious, but I love how it adds so much to the card.  (paper is Cosmo Cricket)

The next one is a different color combo for me.  Not so sure I love it all together, but it's good to break out of the box a little, right?  (Red paper is from Stampin' Up, stamp was $1 from Michael's)

Well, I think I need to bake some bars today.  Since it's too hot to turn on the oven, it's going to be some Special K Bars.  Yum!  (of  course, I use cheap corn flakes to save money - but "Special Generic Corn Flakes Bars" doesn't have the same ring to it!)

Have a great day - and God Bless!

-Rachel-

100 Ways to Enjoy Life

Happy Friday!  After a busy but l-o-n-g week, I'm ready for the weekend.  I've been doing several projects around the house this week, so I haven't been making cards like I'd like to.  So instead today I'll share with you a gift Brooke gave me recently. 

It's a little jar (I save all my used candle jars) that's filled with 100 slips of paper.  Don't we all get so busy sometimes, that we almost forget to enjoy the life God gave us?  Well, I have 100 reminders for me to do just that.  I'll share ten of them with you:

1.  Sing in the car.

2.  Invite people over.

3.  Make brownies. (yep, she's my daughter!)

4.  Jump in puddles.

5.  Blow bubbles.

6.  Be unique.

7.  Help others.

8.  Smell candles. (we love to do this when we go shopping)

9.  Be optimistic.

10. Do random acts of kindness.

And I have 90 more!  Yes, they're all simple things, but that's what makes life enjoyable, for sure.  At age 14, she sure has a depth of wisdom! 

What is your favorite idea for enjoying life?  I'd love it if you'd share it with me!

Have a great weekend and God bless!

-Rachel-

Smile!

Hope your week is going well - we're half-way to the weekend! :)  My youngest daughter is "star of the week" at school this week.  (With our last name starting with S, it's been a LONG wait for her!)  She's fully enjoying the extra attention and all the special things she gets to do.  Today we get to go and have lunch with her, which will be fun. 

Here's a card I made a short while back.  Some more Cosmo Cricket paper (Girl Friday line) and Making Memories alpha stickers.

I found this quote that I liked:

"A smile costs nothing but gives much.  It enriches those who receive without making poorer those who give.  It takes but a moment, but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.  None is so rich or mighty that he cannot get along without it and none is so poor that he cannot be made rich by it.  Yet a smile cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, for it is something that is of no value to anyone until it is given away.  Some people are too tired to give you a smile.  Give them one of yours, as none needs a smile so much as he who has no more to give.                 -Author unknown

Have a great day - and SMILE! :)

-Rachel-

Thank You

Hi!   After a week of rain and gray skies, the sun is out and it's beautiful here today.  Maybe a day to buy some more flowers and do some planting. 

Just a quick post today, to show you another thank you card I added to the Gallery Idol 2010 contest.  (This polka dot paper from Cosmo Cricket has been a favorite of mine for a while.)

(You can always click on the photos to get a better view of the cards.)

Enjoy your Saturday!

-Rachel-

Simple and (kind of) Cute

TGIF!  Hope you've had a good week. Soon we can all enjoy the weekend - YEAH!  We don't have anything going on this weekend, and that's fine with me.  Sometimes lazy weekends are the best. 

I picked up a couple of new (cheap) stamps in Duluth last weekend, and I've been having fun playing around with them.  Here are a couple of cards that I made - nothing real special, but I'm still trying to come up with something more to do with them.  I love the camera stamp, and I'd welcome any ideas on other sayings to put with it. 

Well, I need to head off to a luncheon for my daughter.  (How can I possibly be just a few months from having a high-schooler???)  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.  Thanks so much for checking in here!  I'll try to get something new on here tomorrow or Sunday. 

-Rachel-

A few cards to share

Hello!  It's a cloudy, cool day here in Wisconsin. The kind of day you want to wrap up in a blanket and read a good book.   But instead, I cleaned all morning  and now I've got molasses cookies in the oven.  Oh, it smells good in here!  It always takes me back to my grandma's house when I was little, when she would let me smell the jar of molasses when she was baking these cookies.  It's always been one of my favorite scents. 

Here are a few cards to share with you that I made with some Fancy Pants paper.  I won a scrapbook kit a while back, and it took me at least six months before I finally broke down and used some of the paper in it.  It was almost too pretty to cut!  But once I used some, it felt good and I kept going!

I love this quote by Laura Ingalls Wilder: "It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."   There are so many things to be thankful for...I just need to be more aware of them.

Have a great day!
-Rachel-

Happy Day!

Hello!  I hope you are having a happy day today.  I've been busy crafting most of the day so far, which makes it happy for me, although my house may be feeling a little neglected.  This has been a year of transition for me with my youngest now in school, and I've found that I really need to keep myself busy while I'm at home.  It sure makes me thankful for the hobby of cardmaking and scrapbooking that I truly enjoy.

Today's card is for the Everything But the Kitchen Sink challenge.  This month's challenge was to use an envelope on your card.  I made a little envelope from my Stampin' Up envelope templates.  I've had those for a few years and haven't broken them out in a while.  I thought it was a perfect little envelope to put a sucker or little candy treat into.  Just a little something extra that would be fun for a child's birthday party. 

I've also been making some cards for the PaperCrafts Gallery Idol 2010 contest.  The first entry is for Thank You cards, and these are my first 2 entries.

Enjoy your day!

-Rachel-

Card for Cosmo Cricket Sketch

Happy Tuesday! Hope your day is going well. I've been working this morning on this card for a sketch challenge from the Cosmo Cricket blog. I tend to make a lot of "friend" cards, as they can be used for birthdays, thank you's, or 'just because' days.

This paper is again from the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird line. Rub-on is Melissa Frances and alpha stickers are from October Afternoon

Have a great day!
-Rachel-

Crazy for Cosmo Cricket!

Well, I'm still trying to get this blog thing figured out, and I have a long ways to go. But the one thing I do know today is that I'm crazy for Cosmo Cricket! It's been my favorite paper company for quite a while. It started when my friend Nichole picked me up some paper from the Jitterbug line, years ago. Anyone remember that cute pink and brown line?? I was on the pink and brown kick for a good year, but have since moved on to red, red, and more red. (with some yellow and green thrown in there.)

Well, this card is for the challenge the Cosmo Cricket design team set up for us this weekend. I love all of these colors together, and the Early Bird line is so fun to work with. (Rub-on is from Melissa Frances)

Hope you're having a great Monday!
-Rachel-