For Susan *SFYTT*

It is never easy to make a card for someone who is going through a difficult time, especially when that *someone* is one of your SFYTT sisters. The hope is that your card will bring joy, which is what I am hoping with today's card. Susan Liles' husband was recently diagnosed with cancer and my heart goes out to her and her family. {{{{{{{Susan}}}}}}} I am sure her world has been turned upside down and any words of encouragement and support would be appreciated. Jen has *dedicated* this SFYTT to Susan and her family, so if you would like to participate and create a card for Susan, it would be wonderful. Jen has Susan's address on her blog (the link is at the bottom of this post).

This week's sketch is really fun with the 3 different panels. I immediately thought of how much pattern paper I could use on one design, which I love to do. I used the same slab of "My Mind's Eye" paper that I used last week, since it was still out. I used bright, cheery colors to hopefully brighten Susan's day.


I really, really tried *not* to use Tea For Two, but I just couldn't resist. It really is a testament to what a *must have* set is really is! LOL! I also paired it with another favorite; Heart Prints Sentiments. Now you may be thinking," Why didn't she just use a hear for the focal image?" I tried, I really did. It just wasn't happening, so here we are with the tried and true tea pot! LOL! I did mix it up by adding a heart to the front, which I actually love. It was punched from pattern paper using the heart punch from SU! that has the three different hearts.




Like I mentioned before, I hope this card brings some joy to Susan's day.
You won't want to miss the other designers!

Jen Del Muro and Angie
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles
Amy Sheffer ,
Leigh O' Brien,
Jenn Diercks,
Amber Hight
Megan Lock

Thanks for fluttering by!


P.S. I had someone ask me if I had a photo of all 3 of my kids together, which I didn't. On St. Patrick's day, since it was Rowan's 8 week birthday, I decided to do a little photo shoot with all the kids. I love them to pieces!!!!!!!Today Rowan is officially 2 months old, so it will be time for another photo shoot. Who says you take less photos the less kids you have? Not me...that's for sure! LOL!

Tea Box Tutorial

I had some questions on how to make this box a while back. I decided to make a similar box for my daughter's school teacher, so I took the opportunity to put together a little tutorial. Enjoy!

P.S. I made a whole gift ensemble that I will be sharing, so stay tuned!

Also, you can use the measurements that I specify here, but you could also make the sides and fronts smaller if needed. I think the measurements on the other box were slightly smaller, but since I gave it away, I can't measure it. Once you figure out how to put it together, etc. it should be easy for you to alter it to the size that you need.

ETA: Start with an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of cardstock. Sorry I didn't include that earlier.

Step1: Place your cardstock horizontally onto your paper cutter and score it at 1 3/4. Move that score mark over to 3 1/2. Move that score mark over to 1 3/4 and then again at 3 1/2. You will have a small bit of paper left over for your tab to secure the box.

Step 2: Move the cardstock into the vertical position. Score at 1 3/4. Move that score mark to the 3 1/2 inch mark. Move that score mark to the 1 3/4 . Can you tell that I don't like to add? It is much easier for me just to move the previous score mark to the proper location.

Step 3: Once you have all of that done, you will need to do some cutting as shown in the photo below.

Step 4: Using a bone folder, burnish each score mark for crisp folds. If you have any stamping you need to do on the outside of your box, now is the time. Also, if you will be doing the eyelet closure like I did on the box shown in the link at the top, you would want to do it now.

Step 5: Apply sticky strip to the side and bottom as shown in the next two photographs.
Step 6: I didn't use the eyelet closure for this particular box, so I chose to use sticky back velcro dots as shown below.

Step 7: Decorate as desired. Thanks for fluttering by!

Lucky Day *SFYTT*

I woke up this morning after a night of blessed sleep; Rowan let me sleep until 4 a.m. Then I fed the baby, unloaded the dishwasher, made breakfast, had Emma read to me, ate breakfast, did the breakfast dishes and then....REMEMBERED that I hadn't gotten my SFYTT card photographed or anything! Eeeek!!!! Here I am, late, but here! Maybe too much sleep isn't such a good thing for my brain...a little too relaxed apparantely. LOL!

I really wanted to create a "ST. Patrick's Day" card, but I don't have any stamps or anything remotely related, so I decided to create my own things. I started out by picking my papers; they are from a really old slab of My Mind's Eye paper, but I still love it. I punched out the hearts that I used for the four-leaf clover and then stamped them using Background Basics:Text Style. It is one of my favorites and I end up by using it on a lot of my designs. If you look closely you will notice that I stamped them all upside down, so you won't want to do that if you try this at home! LOL! I folded each heart in half and them applied them to the cirlce using a thin line of crystal effects. I cut out my own stem and added a button to the middle for some extra detail. I used some *really* old alphabet stamps from PSX that I love and have been well used over the years. I mixed using the upper and lower case together for a whimsical feel.

I really struggled with what I should use as the side embellishment, so I just decided to die-cut a ribbon slide, added some paper and a button. This is an a-typical card for me, but I had fun creating the four leaf clover and such.

You won't want to miss the other designers!

Jen Del Muro and Angie
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles

Amy Sheffer ,
Leigh O' Brien,

Jenn Diercks,

Amber Hight

Megan Lock

Thanks for fluttering by!

Baby Name Blog Candy

Before Rowan was born, I had mentioned that we were struggling to come up with an R name for our little bundle. Quite a few of you left comments with some great names, but Rowan was our pick. There were 3 of you who mentioned Rowan, so it wasn't too hard to pick a winner with only three names to draw from. And the winner is.....

Alyssa B
Congratulations!!!!!!

Email me (kellyrory1@msn.com) your address and I will send out some fun Blog Candy!

I don't have anything papercrafty to share today, but I do have a new sewing project that I just posted here.

Thanks for fluttering by!

Postcards from Wonderland *SFYTT*

Before I dive into the details of my card, I have some fun *SFYTT* news from Jen. She has asked a few new "sisters" to join the SFYTT family and I couldn't be more excited. I will have the links to their blogs at the bottom like I always do, but I wanted to "welcome" them and let them know how excited I am to have them with us. It is always fun to see how others interpret the sketches!
Now...on to the card. With the release of the new "Alice in Wonderland" movie this weekend, I thought it fitting to make a "Wonderland" card. I used two of my favorite stamp sets from TJ Designs; Alice In Wonderland and Design Elements. TJ Designs also has quite a few NEW Alice in Wonderland stamp sets, which I am super excited about.

There is something about this little royal rabbit that I just can't seem to get enough of. For those of you who visit often, you will notice that I use him quite a bit. As much as I wanted to color Alice, this little guy made the cut instead. I think a little Alice is in order, though, so stay tuned for another "Wonderland" themed card or project.

I used the crown, flourishes, postcard sentiment and label for the "queen" sentiment from the Design Elements stamp set. I liked the whimsy that they added to the design.

I stamped the rolled paper that the rabbit is holding and cut it out and popped it up to give the focal image a little bit of depth. I really like how doing something simple like that can add a lot.

I created a smaller accordion medallion, using about a 1/8 inch fold. I stamped the "Postcard" sentiment before I glued it together. I punched the crown image using a circle punch and added some gem stickers. I also added the gem stickers to the scallops on the focal image and on the sentiment.

Everything else is pretty straightforward. I hope you all get a chance to play along. Jen's sketches always get my creativity going. I like not having to come up with a layout, so that I can spend my time perfecting the details and embellishments. I am pressed for "creative" time these days, with little Rowan on the scene, but I wouldn't change a thing. He is just the sweetest thing ever and brings so much joy to our home. You won't want to miss the other designers!

Jen Del Muro and New March Designer
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles

Amy Sheffer ,
Leigh O' Brien,

Jenn Diercks,

Amber Hight

Megan Lock

We have all been sick since last week and I just took Rowan to the doctor knowing he had Conjunctivitis (sp?) but also came home with an antibiotic. I guess it is impossible to keep him well with Mom and Dad constantly coughing and such. The other two kids have runny noses as well, but not near as bad as us parents. I thought I would share two of the *many* photos that I took of Rowan on Wednesday; his 6 week Birthday. His poor eye was goopy, but I guess it will always be a memory to remember now that it has been photographed! LOL!

FYI: I feel like a huge slacker with all of the questions and things that have been asked of me over the last weeks, etc. I don't want you to think that I don't care or that I have forgotten about you. It is just taking me a *little* longer to get to things these days. Also, I haven't forgotten about my "banner" tutorial or the name the baby "blog candy" that I promised. I know that at least one person suggested Rowan if not more, so I will get that squared away soon, too! Thanks for being patient with me and thanks for fluttering by!

In the Garden *SFYTT*

The other day I was reading "Peter Rabbit" to Rowan and was really inspired by Beatrix Potter's amazing illustrations. I was really in the mood to pull out this old SU! set and use it in a design, since a lot of the images are similar to the ones in the book. Today's sketch worked out perfectly for the images.

I kept the color pallette earthy and the details simple. I almost scrapped the whole thing, since I didn't have *just the right* colors to make it look good, but I knew I didn't have time to start over. I guess a shopping trip is in order to pick up a few more copic markers! LOL!

You won't want to miss the other designers!

Jen Del Muro and Mona
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer ,
Leigh O' Brien!!!!! Thanks for fluttering by!

Orange Chocolate Logs

I thought today would be a perfect baking day, since it is cold and snowy. I laid Rowan down for his morning nap, got dinner going in the crockpot and started making these yummy cookies. I thought I would never make them again after making 12 dozen of them for a cookie exchange a few Chrismases ago, but my card inspired me to make them and they really are good. They are a shortbread-ish cookie, but with orange flavor and chocolate.

After I was done dipping them and sampled one (well, maybe a few), I was wishing that I had dipped them a little farther down with chocolate, so that more of the cookie would be covered. The orange mixed with the chocolate is the best.

Of course I had to create some "packaging" for these cookies. I am always doing the bag and tag and thought I would box them up instead. They will be inside of a cello bag inside the box, though, so that the box won't get greasy. This is another one of my *go-to* boxes that I always use. I used the same supplies as the card, which is on the post below. The recipe is from "The Lion House Christmas Cook Book" which is a favorite of mine and has quite a few of the recipes that my family likes the best.

Since it is Wednesday, and Rowan is 5 Weeks old today, I thought I would share a picture from today's photo shoot. He has started smiling and I was determined to get a photo to share, but he wouldn't cooperate. This one is mighty nice, though. He is such a cutie and a sweetheart and I can't imagine our lives without him.