Sites of the week

It’s the first day of the Verve Project Parade over on the Verve blog!

This month’s theme is very fun and spirited…

. . . . . MY HERO . . . . .

This may be a person serving our/your country, a family member or a friend. For mine, I was inspired by 2 things…people who in general make my life happy and those fighting for our freedom. When brainstorming for this project, I knew that I wanted something fun, festive, a 3D project and, of course, a little chocolate always make it better…right!!?? So this is what I came up with using the new Verve release, American Hero…

Are you looking at this and questioning “what in the world are those?” They are chocolate dipped and sprinkled marshmallows on lollipop sticks. YUMMY!

I created the base of the box by cutting out 4 Nestabilities die cuts from red cardstock and scoring them on each side, as well as along the bottom. I then attached another piece of cardstock to the bottom, creating a box. I cut out 4 more of the Nestabilities from white cardstock and then just cut out a strip about an inch wide from the middle portion. I used a styrofoam sphere that I cut flat on one side and adhered to the inside of the box using hot glue to hold the lollipop sticks in place. The ribbons were tied around the lollipop sticks and are supposed to reminiscent of fireworks. I placed a stamped and punched star with a shiny rhinestone over the knot to give it a little something “extra.”

To make the marshmallows you need:
Large marshmallows
Dipping Chocolate (I used Baker’s in it’s own microwavable container)
Sprinkles
Lollipop Sticks

To make them…
Heat chocolate according to packaging instructions. Place a marshmallow on a lollipop stick and dip into chocolate. Shake excess chocolate off (I actually twisted it off so there wouldn’t be too much on the marshmallow). Roll in the sprinkles and place stick upright (I used a stryofoam block) and place in refrigerator to harden.

Here are a few more shots of the marshmallows and supplies…

1. Play along with us and link up your new My Hero creation (posted July 12th or later) to the linky widget on TODAY’S (Day 1) parade post on the Verve blog before midnight on July 29th. One lucky stamper will win a $30.00 gift certificate to the Verve Store. Verve Stamps are not required, but we LOVE to see ‘em!

2. For another chance to win, be sure to give the Divas a little shout-out in the comments section as we parade our My Hero creations. One lucky commenter during the course of the parade (July 12 ~ July 28) will win the Verve stamp set of their choosing!

No need to adjust your screen; you are in the right place!! Different look, same ol’ me! Thanks to Sara for fixing me up with this great new design! I wanted a new streamlined design and Sara nailed it. You’ll notice all my contact, Sketch For You to Try {with Facebook link} and Design Team information is all over there on the left. I cut out a lot of links and blinkies. I am going to be working on a separate page with additional links and such, but my sidebar will be all the needed info.

Onto some craftiness…

Remember those fun flowers I made from fabric? HERE is a link in case your rememberer isn’t remembering.

I decided to make them into some fancy footwear. Whatcha think?

These are my faves! I love the denim…you could pair it with just about anything and make it cute!…

Last year I grew a person. This year…frogs. TWELVE of them. I was told that there would be a bit of a mortality rate. ONE died, so there was a DOZEN flippin’ frogs in my house before Operation Frog Drop {taking them to the pond}. Here’s a few pics of the life cycle, less the very beginning and end…LOL!

Did you see the new PROJECT OF THE MONTH on The Cat’s Pajamas site? It’s a little gift bag I made…

All of the instructions can be found HERE on the TCP site.

Ok, I gotta give another weight loss update because I am pretty darn happy this morning…

Since about March 25th {can’t remember exact date}, I am down 16 pounds. Since January 6 {the day Nic was born} I am down 40 pounds. My goal is 17 more to lose and I hope to do that by my birthday in August, especially since we are planning some lake time around then!

You may have seen this project on the Verve Blog the other day, but I wanted to post it here, too. This month’s theme for the Verve Project Parade is SIZZLIN’ SUMMER FUN! I made a tag that has a detachable flower pin that someone can use for a brooch or to put on their purse, beach bag, necklace or they can even attach it to a hair band. I’ve seen a lot of these type of flowers on different blogs and magazines for the past several weeks, so I thought I would give it a go. I went to YouTube and searched “Fabric Flowers” and came up with a couple tutorials that helped me to create my project. Here are those tutorial links…

FABRIC FLOWER TUTORIAL #1
FABRIC FLOWER TUTORIAL #2

My completed project…

The sentiment and clear embossed wave are from the HAPPY DAYS set…

Here are a few more shots of the flower that I cut from fabric {purchased at Hancock Fabrics} with my scallop circle Nestabilities…

Sorry about the watermark right over the center. I saved the pic before I moved it. The center has green felt from FELT ON THE FLY {Etsy} and a Sparkler from Webster’s Pages…

The pin is attached to the felt using Zip Dry. For the backing, I just used felt from Michael’s. I am saving the Merino wool felt for parts that you can actually see

These are pretty addicting when you start making them! I’ve already made a few more and have some more fun ideas that I will be posting here soon {hopefully!}. Have a great day!!

Happy Spring Everyone! Saturday officially marked the first day of spring {it snowed here!} and all of the Verve Divas are preparing some great spring-y {sure, it’s a word!} projects for this month’s PROJECT PARADE for you to see. This month’s theme is FUN WITH FLOWERS! Such a fun and easy theme that everyone can play along!!

I decided to create a project using die cut flowers {from my Slice Wedding Design Card} stamped with Polka Dots from the Verve Bountiful Backgrounds as the main part of my project.

The sentiment is from the new Verve set, Let It Shine, and is framed with a scalloped circle covered in glazed glitter. The flower panel could have easily been mounted on a card or even added to a scrapbook page, but I thought that it would be fun to create a gift-able project with it. I tried out both real and paper flower pots before I just stuck it in a bad of candy. I think this particular one looks best this way, but it would certainly be fun to create bouquets.

Some more detail shots…

It would be a lot of fun to make this for a gift or other special occasions, too. Just a few ideas that come to mind…
* Teacher Appreciation {it just came to mind that you could use an apple instead of a flower!}
* Wedding Favors
* Table Numbers at Receptions
* Baby Shower Favors {think pink or blue flowers!}
* Congratulations or…
…Just Because for friends, family or neighbors

Be sure to check out the Verve blog and each day of the Parade for chances to win.