Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand Blog Hop

Welcome to Melts in Your Mouth but Not in Your Hands Blog Hop for not one but two beautiful ladies who are beautiful inside and out but have the love and joy of crafting. We are celebrating their birthday with a wonderful candy that is not only beautiful inside but outside and both sides are delicious!!!! What a better treat than to use M&M's for birthday wishes!!!! And, they are both turning 50, but shhhh don't spread the rumor as who would ever believe you after looking at their picture!

We have a super wonderful group of crafters to help wish not only Kimberly Pate but Rachelle Larsen a super very happy Birthday. Our hop begins with Kimberly Pate a http://scrappingrookie.blogspot.com in case you just happened to stop at my blog to visit me. Don't get me wrong, but since there is such a delicious hop, I wouldn't want you to miss a single stop along the way!!!!! If you have arrived from http://www.love2createitall.com then you are following the empty bags of M&M's. 

I wanted to make cards for each that somehow included an M&M, but I find animated characters particularly tough, especially to work into a card for me.  I used an M & M .svg to cut out the flesh colored M & M bodies.  I used the same images for each card, just flipped them.  I completed a card for Ms. Brown and Ms. Green.  I wanted to do something a little different, so I depicted them relaxing in a bath prior to getting their party dresses on for their birthdays.  Each outfit was cut using a glitter/metallic paper, as were the boots and gloves.   The boots, gloves, hanger, and mirror are from Forever Young, the bathtub is from Splish Splash.  I fashioned the shower caps out of.well, a shower cap.  The bubbles are glitter blue paper and vellum in various size circles.  Inside, there is a pouch that declares to “Party your Shell Off!” and it holds a little gift for each of them.  I wish I could claim credit for these, but I’ve never tried a tear bear.  These are credit of Kira at mytearbears.blogspot.com.  I wanted to include one for Rachelle and Kimberly to use, make a magnet of, etc., so I chose to just tuck him in the pouch.  The front pieces are attached on the card base over printed M & M photo with tracing paper over the top.   The top of the card is finished with a bow coordinating with the M & M color.  I hope the birthday girls’ day is filled with melt in your mouth joy!

Your next stop along the way is http://edwinascreations.blogspot.com/. I have included the complete line-up just in case you would happen to get lost along the way or at too many M&M's.

1.       Kimberly ~ http://scrappingrookie.blogspot.com

2.        Rachelle ~http://creationsbyrachelle.blogspot.com/

3.       Lynne ~ http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/

4.      Lisa ~ http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/

5.      Miriam ~ http://www.miriamscreations.blogspot.com

6.Amanda~http://thescrapoholiccandyshop.blogspot.com

7.       Angie ~ http://atuttletime.blogspot.com

8.      Belinda ~ http://theembellishedcard.blogspot.com

9.       Janet ~ http://ladyluvbug.blogspot.com/

10.    Lucy ~ http://www.love2createitall.com

11.    Lisa~ http://mycraftyspaces.blogspot.com.

12.    Edwina~ http://edwinascreations.blogspot.com/

13.    Rhonda  ~ http://craftingwithblue.blogspot.com/ 

There is a wonderful group of sponsors to help us with the celebration but as with everything else, there are rules and regulations which will be noted with each sponsor.

• ·      After a long afternoon of crafting, deadline rushes for orders and posts, what would be better than a prize package from SimplySilverton-a soap and paperworks company?  This prize pack will include 2-4oz. handmade luxury soap and and a pound of bath salt soak.  To be eligible, please show your blog love to our participants by leaving comments and following their blogs, and also visiting and liking their page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/SimplySilverton-a-soap-and-paperworks-company-llc/218576901486847. 
• ·      Lucy Kelleher - Independent Consultant for Close to My Heart is donating a $10 Gift Certificate which you can use towards any Close to My Heart products in celebration of Kimberly and Rachelle's birthdays!  ( http://lucyk.ctmh.com).  To enter to win, you will need to leave a comment on her blog (http://love2createitall.com) and become a follower of her blog.  For an additional entry, "Like" her Facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/LucyK.CTMH.
• ·      The amazingly talented Daisy Collins of “I Love Sketches by Tsunami Rose” has donated a $15 gift certificate to her store (http://www.zibbet.com/tsunamirose) and a copy of “I Love Sketches By Tsunami Rose” sketches from the month of July! In addition to leaving blog love for all of our participants and following their blogs, please followhttp://tsunamirosedesigns.blogspot.com for updates and inspiration for Daisy’s sketches and visit and like her fan page athttps://www.facebook.com/groups/106370486155916/
•  Lisa Peters of Scrapping with Lisa Designs, http://www.scrappingwithlisadesigns.com/,  is offering a $20 Gift Certificate to her store for paper piecing or digital designs.

If you wish to send our 50th birthday gals a birthday card, their addresses are listed for you below! Again, thanks for visiting today and don't forget to wish our birthday ladies a super happy happy birthday!!!!!

Kimberly Pate

PO Box 166

Peru, NE 68421

Rachelle Larsen

1099 N. Monarch Ave.

Post Falls, Idaho 83854

Keira's Double Digit Crafting Birthday Bash Blog Hop

Welcome To Keira’s Double-Digit Birthday Crafting Bash! 
*Please note this is a two-day hop. We are currently working out a few Blogger goblins on a couple of posts, but check back!  If you lose your place, please just start back here.  Day Two will be posted tonight for your viewing pleasure tomorrow (some are live, please leave comments if you wish-but comments made thru Saturday 12 midnight EST are eligible for prizes)*  (Please also scroll down if you don't see the blog post for this hop at the top.  We have MANY talented Designers, Design Team Members and professional artists in our hop today, and we may make many postings a day!)

Oh, the dilemma of it all, what to get a talented gal such as Keira who is going to be 10 for her birthday!!!!! I know what, let's have a blog hop for her .....

Keira has sooo many talents and likes such as:

she will be going in the 5th grade, loves dogs and cats, loves to garden, is a competitive gymnast, but more importantly, she is the best crafting partner I could ever have!  At 9, she can use a cricut independently, and with SCAL and CCR. She likes to paper piece and scrapbook and loves making cards for everyone~and everything!!!!  Hallmark may not have a card for “Sorry my Golden Retriever ate your shoe at my sleepover” but Keira sure does!  Keira crafts along side me, working on her own projects, and with helping me with mine.  She even helps me "noodle" out those "now what else does this need?"  Now, bear in mind that Keira is not a "kid" crafter so to speak but her skills go way beyond pipe cleaners and pom poms!

We have a talented group of crafters to help Keira celebrate her birthday and know she will be hopping along as part of her "surprise" .....

Our complete line-up is:

Day 1

1. Lisa W.~ http://mycraftyspaces.blogspot.com

2. Kimberly ~ http://scrappingrookie.blogspot.com

3. Lynne ~ http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/

4. Miriam - http://miriamscreations.blogspot.com

5. Christine ~ http://customcreativeexpressions.blogspot.com/

6. Rachelle~http://creationsbyrachelle.blogspot.com

7. Daisy- http://tsunamirosedesigns.blogspot.com

8. Shawnee ~ http://quiverofangels.blogspot.com

9. Jenny~ http://cccjalessi.blogspot.com.

Day 2

10. Lisa ~ http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/

11. Edwina ~ http://edwinascreations.blogspot.com/

12. Kristy - http://scraptasticalkreations.blogspot.com

13. Maria - http://JoyfulStamper.blogspot.com

14. Jamie ~ http://craftygirl21.blogspot.com/

15.Lori ~ http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/

16. Sarah - http://simplyshaddock.blogspot.com

17. Natasha - http://craftingwithnatasha.blogspot.com/

18, jackie-http://jackrabbitscrappin.blogspot.com/

19. Erica http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

20. Theresa http://scrappinginheels.blogspot.com/

If you're just visiting me today, I'm thrilled but wouldn't want you to miss a single birthday wish to this special 10 year old!!!! The hop begins with Lisa. If you have arrived from then you are most definitely following the cake crumbs and the birthday banners and streamers!!!

For my card for Keira, I felt I owed it to her to, for once, do what I always tell her to do…step out of her comfort zone.  I do muted, vintage, floral styles.  I don’t do cute, I don’t do colorful.  So, I knew I must do cute and colorful.  I found the perfect digi stamp to use, courtesy of Scrapbook Stamp Society.  She was colored, cut and laminated.  I found a “groovy” font and typed my sentiment and added a color gradient.  I sprayed with shimmer mist.  I adhered the girl and sentiment to the card I had prepared with 3-d squares.  I prepared the card as a 6”x6” card base with a glittery peace sign print layered.  This pattern came to me courtesy of an RAK, but fit perfectly.  I added coordinating ribbon.  I hope Keira likes my card for her birthday bash, and appreciates my attempt to step out of the box.  Your comfort zone is where you are, adventure is where you are not.  Go there.

Time to cut the cake…..WAIT….this is a blog hop party, there’s no cake….there’s CANDY!  We have some awesome sponsors for this blog hop who are offering some great prizes!

• We have as an awesome sponsor Scrapping with Lisa Designs (http://scrappingwithlisadesigns.com)!  Lisa Peters has donated $20 worth of her original files as a prize for another lucky winner!  To be eligible for this prize, please follow and comment on each blog in our hop and also follow Scrapping with Lisa Designs Design Team blog page at http://scrappingwithlisadesignsdt.blogspot.com/, and “Like” the Scrapping with Lisa’s Designs Fan Page so you get updates and inspiration for Lisa’s great files.
• Our next fantastical Sponsor is Kristy with Scraptastical Kreations.  Kristy has donated a $15 gift certificate to her online store at http://www.scraptasticalkreations.com/.  To be eligible for this prize drawing, please like Scraptasitical Kreations’ Fan Page on Facebook, and become a follower of her blog at http://scraptasticalkreations.blogspot.com and comment on each blog posting in our hop.
• The amazingly talented Daisy Collins of “I Love Sketches by Tsunami Rose” has donated a $10 gift certificate to her store (http://www.zibbet.com/tsunamirose) and a copy of “I Love Sketches By Tsunami Rose” sketches from the month of July!  In addition to leaving blog love for all of our participants and following their blogs, please follow http://tsunamirosedesigns.blogspot.com for updates and inspiration for Daisy’s sketches and visit and like her fan page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/106370486155916/.
• The creatively diverse Christine Jones of Custom Creative Expressions (http://www.customcreativeexpressions.com/Shop-Online.html) will be creating a personalized tumbler for another lucky winner!  Perfect for a gift, or those crafting happy hours!   To qualify for this great prize, please leave comments and follow our participating bloggers!
• After a long afternoon of crafting, deadline rushes for orders and posts, what would be better than a prize package from SimplySilverton-a soap and paperworks company?  This prize pack will include 2-4oz. handmade luxury soap, a 5 oz. body souffle’, 8 oz of scented massage oil, and a pound of bath salt soak.  To be eligible, please show your blog love to our participants by leaving comments and following their blogs, and also visiting and liking their page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/SimplySilverton-a-soap-and-paperworks-company-llc/218576901486847.

And…..

• Our Blog Hostess, Lisa Woodward would like to say “Thank You” for celebrating this wonderful event with us!.  She is offering one lucky winner a $50 prize pack of crafting supplies, embellishments, goodies and bling.  In order to be eligible for this prize, please follow and comment on each blog post in our hop. 

 (All winners will be chosen from eligible entries at random.  I will post the winners NLT Sunday, July 22nd, 12 midnight, EST.  All entries through Saturday at midnight will be considered eligible.)

Well, we hope you enjoyed the birthday wishes we have prepared and now that you won't want to miss Kimberly ~ http://scrappingrookie.blogspot.com as she too wishes Keira a wonderful double digit birthday!!! You can just imagine how thrilled she is as she is grinning "ear-to-ear" with all of her birthday wishes!

If you too would like to send a special card or crafting wish the address to mail to is:

Keira Woodward

3448 Valley Creek Drive

Tallahassee, FL  32312

Thanks for joining us! 

Happy Crafting,

July Calendar Girls Blog Hop!

Welcome to our July Calendar Girls' Blog Hop. Papercrafts Presents 365 Cards magazine which is our inspiration for these monthly hops which thus became the Calendar Girls. The magazine has Creative Ideas for every day of the year: occasions, holidays, and celebrations including 42 unique holidays!!! These unique holidays are our inspiration. The July unique holidays are:

July 14th Calendar Girls Blog Hop:

National Ice Cream Month: Lisa Woodward

1st: Happy Canada Day- Laura

4th: Independence Day - Lisa

6th: National Fried Chicken Day- Edwina

11th: Cheer up the Lonely Day - Angie

12th: Teddy Bear Picnic Day - Lisa

14th: National Nude Day - Miriam

20th: National Lollipop Day - Kimberly

23rd: National Hotdog Day - Janet

24th: Amelia Earhart Day   Anita  

25th: Threading the Needle Day - Lynne

28th: National Chocolate Milk Day - Kimberly

29th: National Lasagna Day - Lisa

30th: National Cheesecake Day -Janet

The hop starts with Lisa Woodward  (http://mycraftyspaces.blogspot.com/). You won't want to miss a single calendar event not to mention the weddings, graduations, birthdays -- ok, you get the idea!!!! 

The line-up for July includes:

Lisa Woodward: http://mycraftyspaces.blogspot.com/

Laura: http://lauraleesdream.blogspot.com

Lisa Peters: http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/

Edwina:  http://edwinascreations.blogspot.com/

Angie: http://atuttletime.blogspot.com/

Miriam: http://miriamscreations.blogspot.com/

Kimberly - http://scrappingrookie.blogspot.com/

Janet: http://ladyluvbug.blogspot.com/

Anita: http://www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com/

Stop by and check out these holidays as I am sure you are going to want to remember these holidays and include them in your card making projects!!!!! 

We will have blog candy to the lucky recipient that remarks on each site along the way!

I scream you scream, we ALL scream for Ice Cream!  How can National Ice Cream Month not make you happy?  And in National Ice Cream month, not 1 or 2 scoops will do!  Today we have 5!

My recipe:

5 ½ x 7 ½ half fold card in black

printed mat paper 5 x 7 (my own design)

Ice cream with cone and layerable scoops (.svg file)

Cuttlebug “Dots” embossing folder

Cuttlebug “Swirls” embossing folder

Papers from my stash.

I embossed and inked the “scoops and pieced together with the cone.  I attached that with 3-d mounting squares on a curved rectangle, layered on my printed mat, then adhered to the card.  Very simply, but festive at the same time.  I think it’s the perfect balance of technique.  With the various colors, embossing, and print, any more would be busy, IMO.  I hope you enjoyed my card.  Now on to Laura at http://lauraleesdream.blogspot.com.  Thanks for stopping by and mark your calendar again next month to see what Holidays to Celebrate on August 11th for the next Calendar Girls Blog Hop!

Until next time

Craft Happy-

Lisa Woodward

Scrapping With Lisa Design Team-Elephant Hugger Frame

Welcome to Scrapping with Lisa's Designs (http://scrappingwithlisadesigns.com/) Design Team blog hop project for July 8th!!! Our project is using Elephant Frame Hugger 2 (http://www.scrappingwithlisadesigns.com/item_71/Elephant-Frame-Hugger-2.htm). As with any project there are rules. The Design Team is to create using the file BUT not doing as a digital design. With the rules being said, I would love to introduce you to our line-up for today!

1.            Lisa ~  http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/

2.            Lynne ~ http://slasewcraftiness.blogspot.com/

3.            Kimberly ~ http://scrappingrookie.blogspot.com 

4.            jackie ~http://jackrabbitscrappin.blogspot.com/

5.            rhonda ~ http://craftingwithblue.blogspot.com

6.            Edwina~ http://edwinascreations.blogspot.com/

7.            Miriam ~ http://miriamscreations.blogspot.com

8.            Anita ~ http://www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com  

9.            Lisa ~  http://mycraftyspaces.blogspot.com/

10.Janet ~ http://www.ladyluvbug.blogspot.com/ 

We're so happy you joined us at the jungle today to frame our special little ones and know you can think of people that would look adorable set in this frame or even for a baby shower gift!!!

Lisa is again, offering two (2) lucky winners a free file from her store by remarking on each stop along the way of the elephant walk!

I decided to go practical with this project.  When I saw the design, I instantly thought of something that I have needed, but it’s one of those “you only find it when you aren’t looking” items.  We moved into our new house 3 years ago.  It came equipped with new appliances, including a dishwasher with the most buttons and things that don’t make sense to me.  Kindof like a cell phone that is the world’s best MP3 player, camera and portable web browser. Phone calls?  It makes phone calls TOO?  That’s the kind of thing I was dealing with here.  We have a light on the dishwasher that says when the dishes are clean.  Or it’s supposed to.  After a cycle, the light comes on, but you can’t turn the light off until you completely latch the door, at which point it prompts you to start a new cycle.  Once that’s done, you can’t escape, and if you merely unlatch the door, there is a “reminder” beep.  If left unattended, it will beep once-every 2 ½ minutes for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.  We’ve all been there.  So, my dishwasher has an overly optimistic “Clean” indictor.  Enough with dishwasher tech support, and onto the project!   As a result of this befuddlement of technology, combined with a 14 year old boy who’s chore it is to put away dishes, you can ONLY imagine the number of times the light said “clean”, and dirty dishes ended up being put away.  YES, he is that much of a teenager!  Not only does he put dirty dishes away, if you don’t catch it within 5 minutes of start time, he doesn’t remember where the dishes were put.  This leads to…..well a really gross scavenger hunt of sorts.  I decided to create a flip frame with my elephant and created a “Clean/Dirty” sign of my very own.  It measures about 1 foot tall, so it’s noticeable, and laminated for durability.  I used the standard paper piecing techniques to create this, I think we all know how to cut and ink at this point, lol.  I used computer images to pull ones that fit and suited my style.  Who would have known that I could put this elephant and a vintage 1950s housewife picture in the same project?  After everything was assembled and laminated, I added some decorative twine to create the line separator between “clean” and “dirty”, and highlighted the words with marker and stickles.  We all think of paper piecing as a cardmaking or scrapbooking tool.  I wanted to show that you can work them into aspects of everyday things as well.  My elephant is on the dishwasher….and elephants never forget…..let’s see how the children do!

Thanks for visiting

Happy Crafting~

Lisa Woodward