clair087

One of our favorite Holiday traditions is finding new cookie recipes to make and share with friends. Usually, hubby and I each pick 4 recipes, and spend the weekend baking, tasting, and decorating packages to deliver some *happy*! This year, however, we've had to be mindful of just how much I can take on, so we decided to pick just a few recipes that are quick and easy, to keep our little tradition alive. I'm sharing recipe links below, and a few notes on the tweaks. But the real star of today's post is actually the packaging! It was so easy and fun to pull together! And since I don't have the energy I once did, making all the packaging from scratch seemed like quite the feat. Instead, we found several packaging options, and decided to just focus on making the tags. We found these adorable treat boxes at a local craft store, and we've also picked out a few larger boxes at our local Michael's. ____________________________________________________________________ T...

Winter's not quite here and thank heavens for that. It gets so cold here, and it lasts for so long that I'm happy for it to stay away for just a tad longer. But we are dipping down in temps and snow is on the way. And just like clockwork, around this time of year, I'm very eager to play with festive stamps. Especially when it involves gingerbread and colorful candy! I loved creating this 'sweet' pouch. The negative gingerbread cut reminded me of a cookie that is no more. Ever have a delicious treat that you're so looking forward to munching on, only to find out you were a tad too late?! It happens a lot in this house, so I chuckled when I made this. I'm afraid some of these products are no longer available, but I do think this idea could work well with any stamps and dies: Christmas Trees and Ornaments, Christmas Presents and Bows, or even be used with other themes. You can still find the gingerbread dies on PTI's website, but the stamps have been retir...

Oh my, the last few weeks here have been glorious! All the leaves turning, crisp morning, pumpkins on porches...Everywhere you look, fall splendor is upon us.  Golden and rusty orange hues fill the horizon, while the low Autumn sun seems to make things even more vibrant and colorful. I just love this time of year. It's also the time of year I start thinking about cozy layers, pockets for tucking sweet little treasures into, and anything that add a touch of homey-ness and comfort. So today, I have a little pocket card to share with you that was inspired by this wonderful season.  To start my little pocket card, I used simple kraft cardstock along with my W R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board  to make the sweet little envelope. I stamped the pretty design using PTI's Stitch in Time stamp set and some White and Rose Quartz embossing powder. At the top, I added a burlap trim, rose and some stamped leaves and flowers from PTI's Rosie Posie set (discontinued, but you Farmer...

Isn't it fun to give just because? I find that Autumn brings out the gifting spirit in my soul and all I want to do is shower everyone with goodies! Especially home-made goodies :) And one of my favorite fall gifts is homemade mulling spice pouches, which are super quick and easy to pull together, but are such a tasty and fun treat to share with loved ones. I've included my quick recipe below, but first let's chat about the itty bitty pocket.  To start the pocket, I used a bit of soft yellow cardstock and PTI's Seed Packet die . Around the edges, I stamped, PTI's Stitch in Time borders in two different embossed colors, white and soft yellow. To the top of the card I added a few bows, one made of paper, one of felt and another colorful embroidered trim.  For the sentiment, I used PTI's Petite Places: Home and Garden stamps, stamped and embossed in Rose Quartz .  For the adorable pie, I used an older Spellbinders die set, but you could just as easily use this cute...

I can't believe it's that time of year again. Our streets are still covered in snow, and the temps this week are freezing! But I am very much looking forward to Easter - it holds such a special place in my heart and I love everything it represents. I also love that everywhere you look, Spring colors pop up right about now, and it's the only time of year, when my favorite pastel palette can be found everywhere...From home decor shoppes, to craft stores. It's a feast for the eyes! This Easter, we are not coloring eggs in the traditional sense of the word, but I couldn't possibly go without coloring something ...So I was inspired by a few decorative pieces I found, to color a variety of small styrofoam eggs...A messy, but fun task! And I love how they turned out...imperfect speckles and all :)  They just happened to make the perfect addition for all the little Easter gift baggies I made.  To make the tag for the baggies, I stared with the Scene It: Basic Backer die , f...

Hi friends!  It's been so lovely to see the weather slowly turn from Winter to Spring.  We still have  long way to go, but with Easter just a little ways away, I'm reminded that it will be no time at all before Spring is upon us! I'm so ready to say goodbye to winter, and in anticipation, my craft space has been littered with Spring colors for weeks now. So today I'm popping in very quickly to share a colorful, little Easter pouch. I had these beautiful Botanical Letters sitting around from a few other projects I had done, so I inked them up and decided to use them for a felted pocket. I needed something to store some sweet treats, and thought that the Seed Packet die from Papertrey was just the perfect fit.  For the pocket, I used Blueberry Sky felt , and for the ink colors I used Bright Buttercup, Melon Berry, New Leaf, Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, Melon Berry, Vintage Jadeite, Green Parakeet, and Aqua Mist.  I also added a stitched heart, inked with Raspb...

Morning!  How is your day so far? I hope it's sweet and wonderful!  Things around here have been looking very sweet, indeed..I've had my hands full with piles of little cupcake toppers.  It's such a nice change to switch things up and take a little departure from card-making. And I absolutely, positively love how these little toppers turned out.  The best part? They're so easy to make!  So even if you've never experimented with off-the-card crafting, I think you'll find these rather simple to whip together. To start this little topper, I used a scalloped circle base from Papertrey Ink's Scene It: Basic Backer die . I used a pile of Lavender Moon buttons to outline the edge of the base, before adhering a sweet vintage image.  For the sentiment, I used the Just Desserts Sentiments mini stamp set from Papertrey Ink, stamped in Pure Poppy ink. To finish off the design, I used Gran's Garden stamps and dies for the florals, stamped in Aqua Mist, Blueberr...

Hello friends! Today I'm sharing a little bit of a duo perfect for home-y gift giving.  I am so in love with gifts from the kitchen and I think there is nothing quite like warm, comforting goodies, lovingly shared with someone special.  Whatever the occasion - a shower, a party,  feeling under the weather - it's just the perfect little something-something. That is why you'll find the little packaging corner of my craftroom full with fabrics, wrapping papers, bows and boxes, ready to be filled, decorated and shared!  Every so often, I'll whip up little pouches for an added special touch, so today I am sharing one of these with you! It was inspired by a challenge over on the PTI blog , to create something with stripes. But first, I'll share my coordinating card.   To start, I stamped a beautiful set of peonies from the Peonies on Parade stamp set, onto Rustic Cream cardstock  , embossing them in white. I then used a little bit of watercolor to shade in ...

Hi friends! I'm back again today with another little Valentine's post before the day's gone.  These little creations are going to some very special people, so before I send them off, I thought I'd share them with you. First up, I made a few of these little tags to tuck into goodie bags and to add to some yummy baked treats.  I wanted to make something that was simple and easy to duplicate, but still looked elegant and detailed. So I used a simple design, and then embellished each tag with a pile of fancy bows.  I picked up most of the ribbons in the sweetest little shoppe you can imagine, right here in our city.  We are so fortunate to have such a lovely, local place to find beautiful goodies. If you're ever visiting us here in Saskatoon, be sure to check out Soul Paper .  I also created little coordinating gift bag cozies out of this lovely blue embroidered fabric. I am smitten with the delicate pattern :)  And these honestly couldn't have been any simpler...