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!