this time, the "E" is for ♥EMMA♥!

Hello and welcome to my blog! Today is going to be especially special! As you know, there's a group of EAD Designs fans* who've been meeting up online once a month to inspire each other to use our goodies! This time, what all of our projects have in common is that we're all using EAD Goodies and our challenge theme is: Kid-Friendly!

But here's the very best part: all the cards from today's blog hop will be going to a special girl named ♥EMMA♥! Please read about the card drive hosted by Kelly Bertram, who we're so excited is joining our hop today. She chats about the card drive on this post which i hope you'll be sure to check out!

Here's how it inspired me:

(gnome, tree and mushroom stickerz by EAD designs; patterned paper: my mind's eye, crate paper, dcwv, creative imaginations, american crafts; "sweet" rub-on: fancy pants; red chipboard thickers: american crafts; kraft cardstock: core'dinations; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

For today's hop, did I mention there's some surprise blog candy?! The more comments you leave on the participating blogs, the better your odds to win! Want another chance for a prize, while doing something AWESOME?! We'd love for you to join in the card drive! Make a kid-friendly card for Emma, send it to Kelly** and link up over on Amy's blog! Commenting and card link up will be open until Monday, March 24th at 11:59 pm (pst). Winners posted on Amy's blog on Monday, March 31st.

♥Have fun hoppin' for this wonderful cause!!!♥ 

Amy  

Colleen

Julie Smith

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Katie Brooks

Kelly

Lauren Bergold (that's me!)  

Liz

Rose

Shannon

Stephanie 

Wendi 

*In case you don't remember, EAD Designs created the most awesome vinyl stickers and rub-ons; the company closed up shop about a year ago, and they are SORELY MISSED!!!

**The address to which you mail your kid-friendly cards for Emma is in this post of Kelly's; there are also a few important guidelines on what to include... and what NOT to include... so be sure to read the whole thing, ok? ♥♥♥

EAD valentine hop

the lovely amy tsuruta and the rest of us EAD tribute artists are back with some valentine *LooOOoOOoooOOvE* for you, and this time i (modestly, lol!) like my card so much that i cannot wait one more minute to show you!

(lion, hearts, and valentine stickerz: EAD designs; patterned paper: american crafts, echo park, recollections, studio calico; tab stickers: sei; tiny index card: amy tangerine/american crafts; "and" brad: my mind's eye; embossed labels: dymo; border punch: fiskars; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

miss amy gave me the EAD stickerz i used this time: that adorable lion, the "valentine" word and the hearts actually came from two different sets that i combined together. i added in a bunch of other miscellaneous bits and bobs to make my little valentine collage and finished off with a dymo label sentiment. now all i have to do is hide this thing for another ten days, so lovely husband jeff doesn't get a peek at it before the big day!

i'm linking up with city crafter's "love story" challenge, which you should totally go and visit because, as always, the DT have created amazingly lovely eye candy!

speaking of valentine treats, there are a few "surprise" prizes hidden throughout the hop, and the more comments you leave on the EAD tribute artists' blogs, the more chances you'll have to win! so get hopping, darlings!

Amy  

Colleen

Julie Smith

Julie Tucker-Wolek

June

Katie Brooks

Lauren Bergold: that's me! :)  

Rose

Stephanie 

Wendi 

more EAD fun in 2014?

yes, please! of course i was thrilled when the lovely amy tsuruta asked if i wanted to take part in another tribute to the late great EAD designs. this time our theme is, "something old, something new". my "something old" is the pair of chipboard brackets, which you might recognize as being verrrrrrrry similar to-- but perhaps slightly newer than-- a pair of chipboard brackets found in king tut's tomb. yeah. they are that old. :) my "something new"? it's actually this set of EAD stickerz, which the very generous miss amy was kind enough to share with me, along with a few more of her goodies, at christmas time! (my own EAD supply was admittedly beginning to dwindle slightly!) and now here's my card, which i think might just be my all-time favorite EAD design:

( stickerz: EAD designs; patterned papers: amy tangerine/american crafts, my mind's eye, prima, october afternoon; chipboard brackets (ancient... but still, imo, AWESOME) : kay and co; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

obviously the stickerz did most of the work, i love how the clear background ones make paper-piecing soooooo easy; and the fact that they are re-positionable means that you can try out a few ideas before you commit to a final choice. but the thing that really MAKES this card, imo, is the amazing sketch, which i found at paper playful, posted by a site called scrapping everyday miracles; though i believe it's originally a cardmaps sketch. the minute i saw it, i knew exactly how my card should look... right down to the fabulous antique brackets, lol:

speaking of awesome-looking things, i know where you can find a bunch more of them, on these blogs belonging to my fellow EAD tribute artists! there are also a few special prizes on offer, and the more blogs you comment on, the better your chances, so off you go, darlings:

Amy

Julie Smith

Julie Tucker-Wolek

June

Lauren Bergold  (yepper, that's ME!)

Rose

Stephanie 

Wendi 

i'm pretty sure...

...the "D" in "EAD designs" stood for delightful! i mean, seriously, just look at this gorgeous bold sentiment and the sweet baubles... i dare you not to smile! :)

(clear stickers and the most awesome rub-ons ever: EAD designs; transparency: hambly; patterned paper: october afternoon; bling flourish: recollections; flower sequins and tiny brads: queen and co; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

welcome to another EAD designs day, we had so much fun last time, we decided to do it again! today the theme is "holiday". i noticed when i was getting my stash of christmas cards together that i hadn't made many transparent cards this year. partially because my stash of hambly is sadly dwindling... so it seemed perfect to pair a few of my treasured EAD goodies with this half sheet of 12x12 hambly goodness!

and now i know you're dying to surf around and see what the other EAD tribute artists have done this month; plus there will once again be a few (four, i think!) prizes on offer randomly to folks who comment on all the blogs, so why not get hopping!

Amy 

Jessica  

Julie Smith  

Julie Tucker-Wolek  

June  

Kathe Deck  

Lauren Bergold (that's me!)

Rose  

Stephanie 

Wendi

it's EAD designs day!

and i could not be more excited! but what exactly *IS* EAD designs day, you ask? it's a brilliant idea that amy tsuruta came up with, in which those of us who loved (and hoarded!) the amazing and versatile stickers and rub-ons formerly made by the late, great EAD designs, would come together and show them off again. sound like fun? i thought so! so here's what i made:

(stickers: EAD designs; patterned paper: studio calico, crate paper, making memories; heart gem lines: recollections; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

yep, it's a christmas card, made with my favorite EAD baubles. it's pretty minimalist, too, for me, isn't it? but then, the EAD designs are so lovely that i really hate to clutter them up. plus, i had the super-helpful starting point of the same gorgeous seize the sketch design, that all of us in the EAD tribute have used:

and now would you like to see some more gorgeous EAD goodness, and get a shot at winning some lovely goodies for yourself? well, miss amy lined up the most talented group imaginable, and there are some very lovely prizes up for grabs, for which you'll be qualified by leaving a comment on these wonderful blogs, between now and 11:59 (PST), this friday, november 8th, so get hoppin':

Amy

Jessica  

Lauren Bergold (that's me!)

Lauren Brewer

Liz

Rose  

Stephanie  

Wendi

ps: there's even more EAD goodness on amy's and jessica's EAD pinterest boards! wahey!

yes, i really DID make this card, too!

i realize that if you look at my ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ sketch card from last week, and the one i'm going to show you today, you could be forgiven for thinking they weren't made by the same person; but hey, one of the best things about making christmas cards once-a-week throughout the year (instead of a big, stressy, early december clump!) is that you can try every cool new product, every off-beat idea, and every conceivable style you've ever wanted to have a go at! so i did. :)

(patterned paper: echo park, basic grey; tiny accent and sentiments: funky christmas tags stickerz by EAD designs; santa cardstock diecut: crate paper; tag: basic grey; alphas: american crafts; brad: doodlebug; other: baker's twine, plain white cardstock from staples; adhesives: staples glue tape roller, 3m foam tape)

another reason to go in a COMPLETELY different direction this time is that i really wanted to show off how incredibly flexible miss stephanie's beeeeeeeeeeeeautiful sketch is:

something else i've been longing to do is get back to playing in the monthly color challenge at EAD designs , which i sort of lost track of whilst enjoying all of the summer ICAD fun. now, and of course, when i looked at the august colors...

...i thought, "ooooooooh christmas card!", though i confess i had my doubts about the bright yellow. and then as i scrolled down the eye-candy filled DT post on the EAD blog, i saw this tag of liz's which is not only brilliant (in EVERY sense of the word!) but also: i have those stickerz!!! sitting right in front of me at the time was a piece of dear lizzy "neapolitan" paper with the super-cute faux polaroids on it (including yellow and green ones) which seemed like the perfect frame for a collage of tiny little elements! weirdly enough, none of the "ingredients" i chose had ANY BLACK in them, so i decided to (somewhat uncharacteristically) make my "tie it all together color" be white; which kind of just totally lightens and freshens the whole thing in a cool way, don't you think?

the august challenge at christmas cards all year 'round is "kids' christmas" for which they'd like to see cards suitable for children; whilst at my time to craft they are celebrating "christmas in august", so i'm going to throw this little baby in to both; with a hearty "HELLO" to the talented teams at those sites!

and finally i'm going to link up with miss patrice's 52 card pickup, on her blog the old back porch:

there is still nearly an entire week in which to link up with us for the fab sketch challenge at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ which i hope you'll do ASAP. for one thing, we are always happy to see ya... for another thing, did i mention the prize...??!?!  ;)

hooray for the red, white and blue...

... *CUPCAKE*??!?!?!

ok, it must be said that some of my ideas make more sense inside my head; but this week at shopping our stash challenge #57, we are making cards that are either red, white and blue... OR which incorporate stars or stripes... or BOTH!

(patterened paper (all scraps!!!): scrapbook wizard, sei, making memories, doodlebug, dcwv, october afternoon, reminisce, echo park; glossy white cardstock: ranger; alphas: ek success; heart gem sticker: mambi; label: dymo; ink: colorbox; adhesives: 3m foam tape, tombow monorunner, sewing machine)

and as a matter of fact, i think this is just quite a cute card, in fun bright colors; but if you'd like to be patriotic, feel free to add that aspect, as well. remember, in addition to the USA, the flags of england, australia, norway, france, luxembourg, the czech republic, iceland, the netherlands, russia, slovakia, slovenia, cambodia, laos, nepal, north korea, thailand, liberia, cuba, panama, the dominican republic, chile, new zealand, and western samoa all share the same color scheme, so there is plenty of room here to manoeuvre!

as it happens, the june color challenge on the EAD designs blog is also red, white and blue:

so if you make a card or other project for either one before june 30th, you can get a "two-fer". if you need a bit of inspiration, be sure to check out the other SOS design team cards, they are (as always!) quite awesome... not that i am biased on the subject of my dt sisters' talent and creativity in any way!!! (ok maybe just a liiiiiiiiiiiitle bit!) (for that matter, the EAD gals' work is fabulous, as well!) :) :) :)

g/c's with GC!!! ♥

ok, so technically, this ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ prompt is called "on the first day of christmas"... and our true love is giving to us... a gift card in a gift card holder!* but in actual fact what's been written in my own calendar since we started talking about this idea is the much more informal title of this post, because this fortnight we are lucky enough to have lured back one of my all-time favorite lovely guest stars, and bestest of blogging buddies gina cunningham!!!

it was gina who pointed out that one of the things we *ALL* need around the holidays is a cool way to present the awesome gift cards which solve so many of our present-based dilemmas: they're great for everything from teacher gifts to hard-to-buy-for husbands... and pretty much everyone in between, as well! so this time we're asking you to make a holiday gift card holder: it can be as simple as a card with a pocket built in, or as elaborate as you'd like to make it; little boxes, decorated tins, hand made folders or wallets; from a kit, from scratch or just dressing up a store-bought product, we want to see your MOST creative ideas!

i've done a lot of different types and styles of these over the years, but probably the one i've made most often is based on this totally fabulous amy tsuruta tutorial and combines the twin virtues of being easy to make, but still looking quite sophisticated. gotta love that, right?!

so here's the outside:

which must make this the inside, eh?

(patterned paper: basic grey, my mind's eye, kaiser; stickers: basic grey, crate paper, fancy pants, best creation, my mind's eye; rub-ons: mambi; gaffer tape: 7 gypsies; brad: creative imaginations; florals: prima; ribbon: making memories; label die: nestabilities; edge punch: martha stewart; inks: colorbox; adhesives: xyron, tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape; other: sewing machine to create the pocket... but you could easily use a strong adhesive or decorative tape around the edges instead!)

you can see that i've made mine a little bit bigger than in amy's tutorial, that being because i started out with paper that was 12" wide, and rather than trim i just left it. instead of making the base from plain cardstock and adding panels of patterned paper, i xyroned two different patterned papers back to back and then scored and folded the "mega paper" which makes a nice sturdy finished product AND by virtue of choosing a cool section of both sheets did most of my decorating for me... i just had to add embellies, which is, to me, the FUN PART!!! :)

i used EAD designs' may color challenge (#24) as my palette:

and i could not resist this sketchy thursday** "revival" sketch which was featured last week at a new-to-me challenge called platinum scraps:

wow, that's a lot of text and pictures for one little project, isn't it? so i think i will shut up now and send you over to JB to see what stephanie and gina made, because i know you want to get started on your own holiday gift card holder!!!

*stef came up with this title, which i think is AWESOME, like all of hers are!!!  :)
**i dunno about you, but i REALLY miss sketchy thursdays! i was excited to see that diana is GDT and sketch artist at the paper variety this month; gotta get a card in next week for that!

JB12-05+EAD: 'tis the season

you may recall that last week i mentioned we ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ are very excited to be sponsored this time by the wonderful folks at EAD DESIGNS who are offering a lovely prize to one lucky cardmaker linking up a new a holiday card featuring stickers or rub-ons or both! i had a blast the entire month of february as guest designer with the EAD design team, so i couldn't resist making just one more fabulously festive christmas greeting:

(EAD DESIGNS: christmas sentiments 1 rub-ons plus retro christmas and deck the halls stickerz; patterned paper: we r memory keepers, dcwv, basic grey; fabric paper: dcwv; glossy black cardstock: ranger; snowflake brad: doodlebug; ribbon, rhinestones and pearls: michaels; embroidery floss: dmc; ink: colorbox; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape)

i mixed and matched a few different elements to make my own customized embellished wordart; i've used mostly EAD rub-ons, with a few stickerz thrown in for good measure. the "JOY" and "tis the season" came from this sheet, called christmas sentiments 1 rub-ons:

(excuse me, while i pause for just a second to say that these are undoubtedly THE BEST and highest quality rub-ons i have ever used; i wish i could give a sample to everybody who's reading this, because i *KNOW* that once you try them you'll be hooked! not only do they look brighter and darker and more substantial than others, you just will not believe how easily they go on... you don't even need a burnishing tool... you can seriously smooth these on using just your fingers and be completely confident that they will go on smoothly and perfectly every single time! ok, now back to my regularly scheduled post!) 

the phrase "of christmas" is from this set of  deck the halls stickerz:

and the ornament, holly leaves and colorful snowflakes are from these retro christmas stickerz:

i applied everything directly to my patterned paper panel, but then i decided that i'd like the ornament and the holly to have a little more "oomph" so i peeled them back up... (did i mention that stickerz are re-positionable?! seriously, you can change your mind mid-card and i GUARANTEE no one will ever know!!!) ...stuck 'em to a scrap of white index stock and fussy-cut them, before re-attaching on a layer of foam tape. then all i needed was a couple of coordinating mats, a bit of ribbon, and finally, just to add even more texture and interest around the edge of my "word art", i did a little bit of handstitching. et voila!

remember, you don't have to use EAD DESIGNS products to play along at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥, any newly made holiday card with stickers or rub-ons will get you a place in our random draw, which you really, reallllllllllllly should enter, because the prize is your very own shopping spree in the EAD shop! so get creative and link up before next wednesday, march 7th! oh and be sure to check out allllllll of the extra inspiration from the amazing EAD design team who've joined us for this prompt at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥!!!

'ello (& goodbye!) EAD blog hop

how is it even possible that february is already over? how can this be my last official EAD Designs blog hop??!?! the last time i will tell you that if you're doing the hop in order, you should have arrived from the lovely shellye's blog, the papered cottage, and that if not you should pop back to the EAD Designs blog so that you can comment on each post for a chance at an awesome EAD prize?

sadly, it *IS* the last time for all of that, but happily i have a really cool card to show you, so let's get right to it!

(EAD stickers: london town set; vintage: underground map, bobby and union jack illustrations; patterned paper: k&co + scraps of basic grey, doodlebug, dcwv; black glossy cardstock: ranger; transparency: making memories; black pearls: kaiser; ribbon: basic grey; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine)

i used EAD's these awesome london town stickerz, which i ordered on the clear backing so that i could do exactly this sort of paper-piecing with them! once again, i found cause to be extra-glad that stickerz are re-positionable, since midway through my design i realized that i didn't have enough contast going on, and i needed to swap out the papers i'd used under a couple of stickers. luckily, it was, as this sheet itself says, "easy peasy"!!!  :)

apart from the stickerz, i didn't need much in the way of supplies: a few london-themed vintage illustrations from a children's dictionary, a bit of an underground map, scraps of patterned paper, lovely clouds as a background, and a bit of ribbon to (sorry, i can't help saying it!) TIE everything together! (it's a sickness... truly... i apologize!) :)

and thus this concludes my post and my last official duty as february's EAD guest designer. i'd like to thank miss emily, and the entire design team for the warmest of welcomes, and an entire month of the most fun a card-makin' gal can have! all that remains for me to tell you one final time about the fabulous free shipping on stickerz and rub-ons:

and now i shall send you off to your next stop, tsuruta designs, because i know my dearest darling amy has something ♥WONDERFUL♥ to show you!

ps: for a little more EAD Design goodness, why not check out the current JINGLE BELLES prompt, stuck on you? we're using stickerz and rub-ons... and many of the lovely EAD DT ladies have made gorgeous holiday cards to inspire you!!! ♥♥♥

JB12-05 + EAD = ♥STUCK ON YOU♥

like my amazing ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ partner stephanie did last november, i was lucky enough to win a spot as guest designer for EAD DESIGNS all this month. since both stef and i are *HUGE* fans, and emily was gracious enough to sponsor one of our prompts last year, we asked if they'd like to team up again. not only did emily say YES, she sent along the uber-talented EAD design team to help out! we all made cards that feature stickers or rub-ons, and we hope you'll come along and join us for a shot at a fabulous prize!!!

here's my card:

 (EAD DESIGNS: celebrate the season stickerz; vintage: page from "ideals" christmas magazine; xl diecut journaling card: making memories; patterned paper: basic grey, my mind's eye; brads: doodlebug; inks: ranger; pearls: recollections; adhesives: tombow monorunner,  3m foam tape)

i chose this set of celebrate the season stickerz... 

...specifically because my friend, fellow BELLE, and EAD design team member extraordinaire miss rose used them to make this gorgeous card a couple of weeks ago, and i was *smitten* by it! my intention was to CASE it, but as often happens with me, i became slightly distracted... (if you've ever seen a cat react to a laser pointer, you have a pretty good mental picture of my "process" lol!) ...and in the end it doesn't look alllllllll that much like rose's, but i'm pretty pleased with it anyway.

i stuck my clear ornament stickerz to some vintage xmas themed text paper, cut them out, and adorned them with snowflake brads that coincidentally were exactly the right size, shape and color (wahey!!!) then mounted them on a bit of foam tape and used lines of sticky-back pearls as "hangers". i attached everything to that fabulous oversized journaling card, and then just had to create a fairly large (7" square) card to hold it all. i love the way the colors on the stickerz coordinate perfectly with so many prominent holiday paper lines, including my favorite "oldie", basic grey's "fruitcake"!

of course, you don't have to use EAD stuffs to play along with us at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ (but i bet you have some, don't you?!) you can use any stickers or rub-ons, so c'mon over between now and wednesday, march 7th, see the gorgeous EAD DT creations, and start planning the cards *YOU* will make for your shot at the prize! ♥♥♥

february EAD Designs color challenge

i mentioned on monday that i could not be more excited about being the february guest at EAD DESIGNS. for one thing, i get to play along with amy tsuruta's* fabulous color challenge 21! which looks a bit like this:

here are the coordinating stickerz that amy chose for the DT gals-- (YOU can use any products you like; they needn't even be EAD... although i bet you HAVE SOME, dontcha?!) --this set is called vintage treasures and i think they're FAB!!! remember all stickerz and rub-ons ship for free, every day; no code or coupon needed!

and now, here is my card:

("vintage treasures" clear stickerz by EAD DESIGNS; patterned paper: prima, pink paislee; journaling card: echo park; brads: making memories, oriental trading; ribbon: michaels; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, gluedots)

i am pretty psyched about using the word sticker in a sort of non-traditional way by cutting off the "S" and printing a couple of lines of text on a clear label to affix above it! there was a certain amount of discussion between myself and lovely husband jeff as to whether or not the sentiment is "too mean". i voted "no"... and it's my card... so luckily i also got the tie-breaker vote! :)

i do think the elegance of the stickerz and the classic simplicity of the black and white palette make the rest of the card sophisticated enough to take the "sting" out of the joke. (but you know me... i'd've done it anyway, lol!!!)

check out all the details (did i mention there's an awesome prize for one lucky participant?!) and link up your own card at the EAD DESIGNS blog!!!

*one of the best bits is the chance to be the same uber-talented team which includes my friends miss amy and miss rose! wahey!!!  ♥♥♥

yet another reason to ♥LOVE♥ february!

because-- having been lucky enough to win the EAD Designs awesome january color challenge*-- not only did i get to GO WILD in the EAD shop, but also, for the entire month, i get to play along with their amazingly talented design team.  see?

so i will be showing a fabulous project each monday as part of the weekly EAD Designs Blog Hop! can i get a ♥WOOHOO♥!!? here's the order of the hop, in which you'll definitely want to participate, since there is a LOVELY PRIZE for one lucky commenter each week!!!

• EAD Designs Blog
• February Guest Designer Lauren B (that's *ME*!)
• Amy T
• Candace
• Jenn
• Jessica
• Judith
• Julie Ranae
• Lauren
• Liz
• Rose 
• Shellye

and now here is my card:

i always think it's a good policy to start any new assignment with a MONSTA CARD! especially when you've got ones as cute as these MONSTER BIRTHDAY stickerz:

just for the record, no, i didn't use the entire sheet of monstas on the front of this card. that would be silly; of course i saved a couple... to put on the INSIDE... and the envelope!!!  :) (in my defense the only other items i used on this 6x6" shaped card are DCWV and kaiser papers, plus my dymo labeller!)

here's something to remember as you hop around and see the DT's gorgeous work... if you find yourself craving a few EAD Designs of your own:

yep--you get free shipping on ALL stickerz and ALL rub-ons... no matter HOW MANY you buy! which is excellent, since there are soooooooooo many fabulous ones, it's VERY hard to choose!!!!

feeling enabled yet???!!?! awesome! then i think my work here is through! now hop on over now and see what the delightful amy t has whipped up for us... because you know it will be worth the trip!!! ♥

*the awesome FEBRUARY color challenge starts thursday, so c'mon back, see my card, and find out how *YOU* can get a shot at the prize this time!!!  :)

multi-tasking giftcard holder

i am not a person who can easily approach a WHOLE BUNCH of challenges with one project, but every once in a while i'm able to find two or three i think will mesh pretty well, and it's always a bit extra fun to combine them.

this time i've had a go at city crafter's "pretty inside and out" (week #92)... for which we're asked to create a card on which the decoration is not merely exterior; as it happens, that's something i don't do nearly enough, so of course i was inspired!

as i was thinking up what exactly to do, i happened to see this fabulous palette for EAD designs' current color challenge (#20) on my pal amy's blog (she's actually the hostess for this!) and at stef's AND also miss gina's; needless to say, they all made amazing cards!

in the meantime, i realized i needed a giftcard holder... like... YESTERDAY! once again, the amazing amy t. was came to my rescue, with this great idea and mini tutorial i found on her blog a while ago; it was super easy to follow, and i'm quite happy with the results.

so here is the outside:

and here is the (hopefully) equally lovely inside:

in retrospect, i wish i had only used the basic grey "sultry" paper on the inside, and something plain (or at least plainer) on the outside; i think the floral pattern's a bit much as a base... but there ya go... sometimes you have time for a "re-do" and sometimes not. at least i have the comfort of knowing for sure my friend jax will not receive TWO of these babies! :) :) :)

plus i've slipped a saladworks giftcard and some bling inside... and added a ghirardelli chocolate bar and super-fun cupcake-shaped lip gloss on the outside... so i think i can skate by. happy thursday, darlings! ♥