Cosmo Cricket Early Bird + Nestabilities + a Bird Cage stamp + American Crafts Packaging = CUTENESS!

No, for real! Check this out!



Am I right? Of course, I'm right. I always am when it comes to matters of cuteness! I just know these things! You must learn to trust me. Really, you must.

So...here is what I did...



I took an empty American Crafts Greenhouse embellishments container (*shock!* Yes...it is possible to actually use a full container of embellishments...it's okay...I was shocked at first, too!)

I created a cute decorative band to wrap around it from Cosmo Cricket Early Bird paper and added some way stinking adorable pom-pom trim for some fun and flair.

Then, I used my Nestabilities scalloped circle dies to the red cardstock and the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird paper to create the flowers. You guys know how much I love pop dots, so, of course, I used those for dimension on the flowers. LOVE IT! Then I reached for some classic 'flower center' type stamps to make the centers.

That's when I got stuck. I found an interesting snowflake and stamped it, cut it out, and hated it. Then I found a fun flower that I punched with a circle punch after stamping....and hated it. Hmmm.....

Then I grabbed my funky pointy star thingy punch (I SWEAR that's what the package said! HA!) from EK Success and punched a piece of kraft cardstock scrap to see if that color would work and I figured I'd find a stamp after determining the color match. Well, would you GUESS what happened next?! Nope! You wouldn't! Why? Because it was just an amazing stroke of creative brilliance sent from above, that's why. The scrap that I had used just happened to have Hero Arts birdcage images stamped on the other side. Well....it just so happened that the piece I punched looked AWESOME with part of the cage stamped on it! So...that's what I did! I punched out a portion the bird cage image for the center of each flower and then topped them with the button! I love it! And even better - I TOTALLY love it when that happens!!!



I stuffed the little acrylic container with some brown felt and then created the stems from some freebie pencils that I had around. I just wrapped them with floral tape to get the right look and then tied ribbon around a few of them to finish it off! Now I have this WAY stinking adorable little paper flower bouquet and it is making me quite happy.



AND....even better...I totally got to upcycle, and that ALWAYS thrills the heck out of me. Basically, this was overall, a wicked crazy fun project! What do you think?

It's EARTH DAY! Make an Upcycled Coke Can Bracelet!

Happy Wednesday and Happy Earth Day!!!

I apologize for not posting yesterday...I was not feeling well, as that Spring that I was wanting so badly has begun to arrive and now it is attacking in the form of insane allergies! LOL! It figures, huh? Nothing like noticing the new picture of a Puffer Fish in your house and then realizing that you are actually looking at a mirror and that Puffer Fish is your face! But, I'm doing better and happily medicated now, so hoping for a good day!

Today is Earth Day and that is just a great and wonderful thing! To celebrate, I am posting a quick tutorial on making an upcycled Coke can bracelet! I would really love to see your Earth Day posts today, too! So please tell me about them so I can check them out!

Supplies:

One soda can.
A pair of good scissors. (I used EK Success Titanium CutterBees)
Maybe a set of jewlry plyers to help with the folds.

1. Cut off the top and bottom of a soda can. You want to stay fairly close to the ends, as you will be folding the sides in and for a cuff bracelet you want it nice and wide.



2. Fold in the sides twice so that all sharp edges are folded in. Do this carefully as the cut aluminum is very sharp!





3. I wanted curved ends, so I cut a curve on each end before folding down those edges. This makes the folding rather challenging, but gives a nice finished look.



4. Using a cylinder as a guide, gently curve the metal into shape. You can adjust it to the proper side after doing this, but you want to use a cylinder to get it started to avoid kinks.



5. Put the cuff on to check for size and make any adjustments that may be needed.



And that's it! Nice and easy and a great fun way to let people know that you are an addict. I mean, that you are GREEN! Yeah...that's it....greeeen.....




Link Up Your Earth Day Posts Here! I can't wait to see them! Actually...just for fun....I will do a surprise Earth Day PRIZE for one random winner chosen from those who link up their Earth Day posts. Please be sure to link the specific post and not just your blog. (And...I just figured out this whole Mr. Linky thing, so I am really excited to be trying it out! LOL!)

My new Upcycled Watch and A Birthday Card with a Gnome on a Cupcake in a Jar

Those things seem to go perfectly well together if you ask me! HA! Anyway, that is what I have for you today!

My New Upcycled Watch

Let me start you out with a little back story here. Not much, don't worry. I have had a fairly simple, decent pair of black boots for a couple of years now....more than a couple, I think. I purchased them at top dollar from a trendy little boutique ($25 at Payless) expecting them to last me a lifetime (a season). SO....the reality of it is...they actually lasted for a few years - I don't remember exactly how many, but considering the price - WAY longer than they were required to last, THAT is for sure. However, you may have noted by now that this entire diatribe has been in passed tense. Yes. They "lasted" for a long time. When did they finally go, you ask? Well, that would be last week. When I REALLY needed them for the outfit that I wanted to wear and I no longer owned ANY backup plan of ANY kind in the black boot category. This was also, incidently, one day after I made the stunning realization that I had given away my brown boots after last season, as they were a little too worn and I just wasn't loving them anymore. Oh....that was dumb. Because you see....now....I didn't have any "normal" boots (I do have a couple cute "trendy" pairs, but they aren't the "wear with anything" type of boot, kwim?) to speak of. THIS was not a good thing! No. Not a good thing at all. I am a SHOE girl! I MUST HAVE BOOTS! Problem: Not exactly room in the budget for the WAY cute boots I saw in the latest Eddie Bauer Catalog. Solution: An unexpected stop at yet another high end trendy boutique (Charlotte Russe) where I managed to procure TWO (count 'em) TWO pairs of boots (one black and one brown) for $50. That I could manage since it was an emergency and all. BUT....alas, that left me with my old Payless boots sitting forlorn and cracked with no hope for donation as they were beyond wearable. What is one to do with such forlorn boots? One must make them feel as though they have done all that was required of them and more, thus. My next story.

I'll keep this one short and to the point. My old watch is driving me nuts. My skin has been reacting with the metal band causing chemical burns on my wrist with tiny blisters and it even made the metal on the underside of the watch band bubble up. NOT a good thing. Must replace watch.

I had an old watch with a decent face, but the band didn't really work as an everyday band because ....well because it just didn't.

Enter: the Boots.

I had planned to do this myself despite the fact that I can't sew and have not even really used the sewing maching that sits in my scrapbook room, but, alas, my wonderful husband did it for me yesterday!!!!

He cut the material from the boots to create this great new band for the watch face that I already had! All he had to add were snaps to attach the face and, obviously, to secure the band around my wrist! I love it! Isn't it great? And it totally repurposed my boots, which I think is WAY cool! Plus, if I want to make other bands with other fabrics, I can switch them out! I love upcycling!!!!!

Here is my new watch!







Now...For the Birthday Card With a Gnome and a Cupcake in a Jar

Isn't that what is on all of YOUR birthday cards? LOL!

This card was inspired by the wonderful Travelocity commercials. My dear and wonderful husband is turning 30 on Saturday and we really aren't "talking" about that. LOL! Hence the gnomes fear of certain death.






This card has SO many supplies! I didn't really realize it until I had to list them all! LOL!

Acrylic Overlay: Hambly Studios
Decorative Tape: Martha Stewart
Stamps: Close To My Heart (frame behind title), Stampn' Up! (jar and lid), NikoArt (gnome - everyone needs this stamp!!!)
Colored Pencils: Prismacolor
Cupcake Punch: Martha Stewart
Cupcake Rub-on: Pink Paislee
Glitter: Pink Paislee
Transparency: Avery (over jar)
Ink: Close To My Heart (black and chocolate) Ranger (pumpkin)
Marker: Marvy Uchida (used to add the color to the dots in the frame)
Chipboard Letters: Heidi Swapp
Silver Pen: Target
Cardstock: Close to My Heart

Feel free to ask any questions. I'd love to know what projects you are working on!!! I always enjoy reading your comments! Thanks for stopping by!

Oh...and one more quick thing....

crowdSPRING, hire Kelly Purkey for your new Community Marketing Manager! Seriously, though folks!