Easy Elegance!

I recently made this card for one of my lovely Stamp Club members, Tiffany (hi, Tiffany!)... Tiffany is getting married and expecting their first baby, so I wanted something that was soft & sweet & springlike without being too baby-ish or too wedding-ish.

(Tiffany, don't read this part...) .... this pretty card was actually incredibly easy to make. I picked out a few pretty colors from the Soft Subtles color family, used the Medallion stamp (definitely one of my fav's) & the Congratulations stamp from Well Scripted (a cinch to line up just how I wanted it since I have it in clear mount), then added a little something extra with paper piercer dots and Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

I hope you all like it and congratulations Tiffany!!

NEW Stamp Club!!

Need a few hours to express your creative self? Want to make handmade gifts, but can't seem to find the time or a quiet spot at home? Don't feel crafty, but want to be? Enjoy time out with friends, including good food and conversation? Want to learn new craft ideas and build your collection of craft supplies in a very affordable way?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, my NEW monthly Stamp Club may be for YOU!

My current Stamp Club is getting so popular that it's time to start another one so that more people can join in on the fun! Almost all of the spots are already spoken for, but we can fit in a couple more people if you're interested.

So, what exactly is a Stamp Club, you ask??

BENEFITS YOU GET:
- FREE live monthly card-making classes taught by yours truly :)
- FREE supplies for all projects made during the "meeting"
(typically 3, depending on complexity)
- FREE fun times with other adults
- FREE 2009-2010 AND 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog (worth $9.95 each!) & mini catalogs throughout the year
- FREE Hostess goodies- everyone takes a turn at being "hostess" for one month. It's always at my house, so you don't have to worry about cleaning your house or inviting guests, but you still know you're going to get at least a FREE level 1 hostess stamp set and at least $15.00 in FREE merchandise when it's your turn to be hostess for the month.

WHAT YOU AGREE TO:
- Order a minimum of $25/month in merchandise for the 6-8 months of this Stamp Club session (the number of months will depend on the number of people that sign up, so if we have 7 people, it will last 7 months). If you can't make it to club in person, submit your order to me before the club date.
- When it's your turn to be hostess, bring a light snack for the group to enjoy.

That's it! It's such a great way to learn new things and spend time with nice people in a relaxing & fun setting.

The first Stamp Club "Meeting" is set for Thursday, April 15th at my house in Spokane.
Please let me know if you're interested in attending or would like more information and reserve your spot today!

CAUTION: Extreme Excitement

These sale-a-bration boxes are too funny:


...partially crazy, but mostly true though, right??

It's easy to understand the excitement once you tear open the box and see all of the awesome stampin' goodies!!


I am loving the new punch style. The flat design makes storing them a snap and the new images are awesome!!


Here's a close-up of the cool new bird punch:


This punch is incredibly popular right now and is so fun & easy to use. Here's an example of a quick quick springy birthday card I put together using the new punch:


Sale-a-bration is coming to an end, so now is your last chance to take advantage of the huge variety of FREE stamp sets, punches, and paper you can get during this awesome promotion. Please let me know if you need any help or would like to place an order!

If you've read this far, CAUTION, I have a bonus offer for my loyal Homemade Smiles followers that may cause more extreme excitement. I'm placing an order tomorrow (Sunday, March 20th). If you email me your order by 2pm Pacific tomorrow I will add it on to mine and pay the sales tax on your order for you. That's right, FREE sale-a-bration goodies AND NO SALES TAX!! This offer is only good if you email me an order by 2pm Pacific tomorrow... so start flipping through your catalog or browsing online and send me your list!

Happy Spring!!

The Coolest Kiddo Card EVER

Okay, not to brag, but I just may have come up with the coolest card a person could possibly make for a 5 year old boy.

A trucks that moves (yes, moves), 3D bee, freshly-caught fish and a giant birthday cake hanging out of the truck and his little brother next to him in the front seat. Okay, the little brother part might not always be the favorite thing, but still.

What do you think? Pull the ribbon and the truck moves!


Anyone out there seen the movie Wall-E?

It's the cutest little movie about robots and saving the earth & humans (from what I remember... it's been awhile). The release date being three years or so ago, however, does mean it's not my nephew's character of choice for his bday cake:


I made it with my awesome sister-in-law today before the birthday bash. What do you all think??

Happy 5th Birthday, Ryan!!

Love,
Auntie Kristi

IRISH LOVE week- LAST DAY

Welcome to the last day of IRISH LOVE week & thanks for stopping by Homemade Smiles!

I've tried to keep the designs very simple this week- quick to make and minimal supplies.

Most of the designs have used either the Go Green stamp or the Heart-to-Heart punch, plus either Old Olive or Glorious Green cardstock, Whisper White or Very Vanilla cardstock, a little Basic Black & Kraft cardstock. I used, of course, an ink pad or two and a sparkly brad or two. Pretty basic supplies though to provide my loyal fans, even the stampin' newbies, with some designs they can recreate to share some IRISH LOVE this year.

And so the week comes to an end with this simple design, perfect for a friend, relative, coworker, neighbor, male or female, young or old:



Thanks for joining me and check back in the next few days for some fun & colorful SPRING ideas!

Smiles,

IRISH LOVE week- Day #6

Here's an idea for a more masculine take on a St. Patrick's Day card using the bold combination of Glorious Green, Basic Black & Whisper White, plus a splash of Kraft.



What's that black string, you ask? It's a small piece of retired Black Twine. The absolutely delightful natural-colored twine we have now used to come in black, so I decided to try a little piece of it on here.

The lovely border is of course our Sale-a-bration punch. Cannot get enough of this punch- so dang cute and only available until the end of this month!


One more design to go of IRISH LOVE week!

IRISH LOVE week- Day #5!

Back to Irish Love week designs, though as I write this I am leaving my Irish Love to head to the east coast. Believe or not, Homemade Smiles is more of a side gig for me, so it's off to DC for work for a few days.

Nevertheless, I bring you a fabulously fast, yet rather sophisticated & cute, St. Patrick's Day design today:




The Chocolate Chip base with the Old Olive & Certainly Celery layers on top thata are slightly raised with dimensionals make it seem like a framed piece of Irish art to me. The cute little stamp? It's the Go Green image. I colored in the words with my Chocolate Chip marker and the clover with my Old Olive marker. Easy easy, yet a pretty nice design, if you ask me :)

That's all for now... time to board this plane!

PPA- A Theme Challenge

A brief break from IRISH LOVE week because I decided to enter my very first challenge and "play along" at the Pals Paper Arts stamping challenge this week.

Here are the directions given...
Welcome to our theme challenge: Spring
With Spring less than 3 weeks away, what better way to welcome it than with a Spring theme challenge. This can be anything Spring-related; flowers, colors, Easter, anything that makes you think "Spring."


And here is what I made!



What do you think???
I used the AWESOME new Two-Step Bird Punch to make the cute little bird and branch and the cute cute "a *note* of appreciation" stamp from the Picture This hostess stamp set I got for FREE (and you can, too! see my hostess club info on the left) in the current Occasions Mini to make the little bird's spring song fly into the air.

You can make it, too!
- Cardstock is Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, Old Olive and Rose Red.
- The Two-Step Bird Punch, of course! I let the wing fly a bit to add more dimension by only applying snail adhesive onto the top part and then gently bending up the bottom part of the wing.
- Use your Bashful Blue and Old Olive Stampin' Write markers to make the cute little music notes. Just color the note part to make more music, then color the whole stamp to get your sentiment on there.
- Don't forget! A matching envelope is a must. I used Bashful Blue cardstock stamped with the cute little branch from the Always stamp set.


Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.... IRISH LOVE week designs will be back tomorrow!!

Smiles,

IRISH LOVE week- Day #4!

Welcome to Day #4 of IRISH LOVE week!

Here's a fun & funky, sort of trendy & eco-looking version of a St. Patrick's Day card for your viewing pleasure:



What do you think? It again, uses the heart-to-heart punch (which is sooo handy, and clearly not just for Valentine's Day) combined with the sale-a-bration border punch for that cute scallop edge along the top.

Other supplies used include: Basic Black, Whisper White, Bashful Blue & Old Olive cardstock, along with a small piece of twine and my trusty Basic Black marker to color in just the word "happy" on my BEE Happy stamp that is a hostess freebie from the "Picture This" stamp set in the current Occasions Mini catalog.

Have fun and check back tomorrow for another design idea!!

How Cool is THIS?!?!?!

Remember this card from Day #1 of IRISH LOVE week??



Look what it inspired!!



This cute cute card was made by "stampinsam" a fellow stamper on Splitcoast Stampers. You can see some of her other creations here. Very talented person and I'm so honored she used my card as inspiration. Thank you stampinsam!

Have I inspired YOU to make a St. Patrick's Day card??
If so, please let me know! I'd love to see your creation :)

Check back for tomorrow for more ideas!

Smiles,

IRISH LOVE week- Day Three!

Happy Day #3 of IRISH LOVE week!

Check out this Clean-And-Simple design using the new Go Green stamp:


I love love love the Kraft card stock for card bases. It's a nice sturdy weight, matches just about everything AND has awesome perfectly coordinating envelopes.

The border punch is the beautiful free sale-a-bration punch with Glorious Green paper behind it to really make it pop and stand out against the Kraft background.

Thanks for stopping by & check back tomorrow for day 4 of IRISH LOVE week!

IRISH LOVE week- Day Two!

Look mom, no stamps!!

This card uses the small heart from the Heart-to-Heart punch in fun Bright Bold colored cardstock to create a card that YOU can recreate on your own or with little ones.



Colors I used were Glorious Green for the base, Whisper White for the punched out squares, and then the bright bright Green Galore for the fun little falling 4-leaf clovers and the Green Galore diamond shapes (TIP: turn those square-punched out shapes sideways to get more versatility from your punches and make diamonds!).


More IRISH LOVE week ideas coming for the rest of the week. Check back tomorrow for another new, fun & easy idea!


Smiles,

IRISH LOVE week starts now!

It's Day One of IRISH LOVE week here at Homemade Smiles and I have the easiest, cute yet classy, St. Patrick's Day card to share with you.

I wanted something that had a touch of sophistication to it and that didn't use many stamps, so what do you think??




A few tips so you can make it, too!
- Punch out a heart four times from Old Olive paper. I used the heart-to-heart punch (shown below) and punched it four times so that all of my hearts would match.


- That little stem? I just free-hand cut it out of a scrap piece of Old Olive paper
- The little elegant touch in the middle is a coordinating Old Olive rhinestone brad
- The pretty border was a cinch using my FREE sale-a-bration punch
- Don't recognize the stamp? I just colored the words (sentiment) part of this cute & inexpensive new St. Patrick's Day stamp called Go Green:


A matching Very Vanilla envelope stamped with the cute little clover from the stamp above, and you're done! You have a sweet, cute & sophisticated St. Patrick's Day card to start off IRISH LOVE week.

Have fun & check back tomorrow for another St. Patrick's Day card idea!

Smiles,

IRISH LOVE week starts tomorrow!

In honor of my wonderful husband and his Irish heritage, tomorrow will start our IRISH LOVE week here at Homemade Smiles.

I'll be posting a new St. Patrick's Day card idea every day this week.
Here is a sneak peak of the fun ideas coming your way-


... check back so you can make your own homemade St. Patrick's Day cards to send to the lucky people in your life and spread a little IRISH LOVE!

Perk Up!

This time of year many people battle colds as they long for the snow to melt and spring flowers to bloom. What better way to show you care than to take this:



and turn it in this!



This idea was the brainchild of Lauren, one of my Stamp Club members. She was kind enough to let our group use her fabulous Puns from the Past SU! stamp set:



Look at all those cute images! The possibilities are endless!!


Don't want to give a mug or need something that is easier to mail?

How about this cute alternative? It uses the medium cello bag, is filled with goodies like teas & cocoas and then has a cute little bag topper with a "perk up" message.



Let me know what you think & check back soon for more crafty ideas!


Smiles,