What's Happening....

Hey y'all! I know it's been a long time since I have been around this ole blog! And I have a lot of catching up to do!!
First, I want to share a gift bag that I recently made & embellished with flair from The Crafty Pickle. By the way, the shop had reopened so you can find all your flair button needs and more there!! And lots of new products have ben added!

 

I added the hearts flair button to the top of the fabric rosette and love the way this simple but sweet gift bag turned out!

 

While it's not a Christmas gift bag, it will be perfect to present to my daughter with a small gift or gift card for her 13th birthday next week! I am at a loss for words as we embrace on teenagehood. I can't believe Leah has reached this stage already!! I must say, for the most part, we are pretty lucky-she's a great kid!

 

Speaking of Christmas & he holidays, are you ready?! I am almost done shopping, however, have not done much in the way of decorating. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner for the family here this year so we were pretty busy preparing for that. Now I seem to have lost all motivation to get ready for Christmas! Hoping I find it soon!!! We did have a special guest arrive on December first:

Ty was so excited to see "Countdown" when he got home from school the other day! He had been asking when he would arrive for weeks!! The Season is upon us!

Make it a great one!

~Stephanie

  

 

  

Valentine's Day Mason Jars

Hey y'all! Happy February, already!!
I am thinking about Valentine's Day, which will be here before we know it! I wanted to do something small for the kids' teachers, so I thought mason jars filled with candy would be perfect. Who doesn't love chocolate?!

 I bought these jars at the dollar spot at Target then pulled out a bunch of Valentine related embellishments to decorate them.

 

The flair buttons are from The Crafty Pickle from the Watercolor Hearts set. This set is great for Valentine's Day & comes with six assorted 1" buttons.

 

 

 

I filled the jars with a bunch of chocolate kisses, a chocolate heart & candy bar. I think their teachers will enjoy them-I know I would! Now I just need to make a few more before February 14th!!

 

Take care & keep crafty!

~Stephanie    

 

 

Door Hanger

Hey everyone! I hope your summer is off to a good start. I know ours is! The pool, ice cream, hanging with friends, smores by the outdoor fire & concerts are just some of the things we have been up to. Love the relaxed vibe of these days!
Today I am sharing my latest Lovebug Creations' project. I made a door hanger for Leah's room. We remodeled in there & I thought she would like this to welcome her friends in.

I used Purpledise rumple ribbon from the "Spring Rainbow" collection to hang the chipboard heart. It also looks great looped through the holes. This chipboard heart was part of a mini album, but I decided to break it up & use the hearts separately. I started by painting it white then stamped the circles on. 

The alphas are Thickers that I misted with Glimmer Mist.  The word diecuts are from Pink Paislee & the chipboard crown is from Maya Road, also misted bit with Studio Calico's Mister Huey's color mist. 

Leah loves purple & this looks great on her door! 

Thanks for stopping by today. Make it a crafty one!

~Stephanie  

   

Treat Bags

Hey y'all!
I am gonna make this a quick post as I am not feeling well. I thought last week that I had strep throat, but the culture came back negative. Turns out I have hand, foot & mouth disease! And it is not any fun!! I need to rest as this week is going to be a busy one for sure!
Today is the first week of the new design team's posts for Lovebug Creations. Be sure to pop over to the blog every day this week to see some awesome projects!!
I made several treat bags for the staff at Leah's school. We don't typically get for anyone other than the kids' teachers, but since this is Leah's last year at  the school, we thought it would be a nice gesture to show everyone how appreciated they are!

I will fill each bag with some chocolates. 

I started by placing a doily on the edge of each bag. I used my Martha Stewart butterfly punch & my  Fiskar's heart punch. Each bag is tied with a gorgeous rumple ribbon. I have used Purpledise  from the "On The Edge" collection; I Love Grunge ; Icy Sky & Butterfly Blue, both of which are retired now.

Be sure to check out all of the fabulous ribbons and more in the store!   

Til next time, 

~Stephanie 

   

Star Power

Hey y'all & happy middle of the week!
Today I am sharing another Lovebug Creations' project. I made a star wand for Leah. She was in the school's 5th grade play last week & Friday night was the final performance. We all (& when I say "all" I mean all 12 of us from her extended family) went to that show. Her dad & I presented her with flowers after the play ended and I made this to accompany the flowers in the vase.

I used some of the now retired "Fun Footz" ribbons in the giraffe & zebra prints. I adhered these fun ribbons to the back of the star to look like its trails. My bow is made with "Kisses" Simply Sheer ribbon from the Loves Me...Love Me Knot collection, and Rosebud rumple ribbon from the Spring Rainbow collection.

Leah did a wonderful job and was very at ease on the stage. She is now sad that the play is over. She will be graduating from elementary school in a month now!!!

(Leah with her Mom-Mom after the play!) 

I really can't comprehend where the time has gone! It seems like just yesterday we were playing dress-up & getting excited because I could finally get her hair in pigtails! Now she is evolving into a beautiful, kind young lady (that I couldn't be prouder of) who is growing up before I can blink!! She continues to amaze me and show me how wonderful she really is! I love being her mom!

Take care y'all!

~Stephanie     

LBC Spring Celebrations New Release & Blog Hop!

Welcome to LoveBug Creations Spring Celebrations 

New Release and Blog Hop!!

If you stumbled upon our hop and want to start with our blog hostesses, then click over to
LOVEBUG CREATIONS blog. 

Spring is a time for Easter and Mother's Day events but it also signals weddings, graduations, family reunions, and more.  LoveBug Creations has some new awesome products to unveil today for your spring celebrations.

  So do you want to add something special to your handmade projects?? If so, consider these new springtime collections for your crafting arsenal of rumple ribbon delights:

And for something different, we are releasing the beautiful Mama's Roses.  
Each rose is hand-formed and hand-dyed; each has dimensions of  2"x 2" and can be used as is or inked, painted, stickled, and more - your imagination can provide lots of possibilities for these beauties - and they are feather-light so you can create lots of projects from layouts to cards to tags to mixed media creations to 3-D creations and more and not feel there's an anchor on your project, weighing it down!

And if that isn't enough... We've got 4 NEW Mama's Mesh Colors: Kraft, Ivory, Light Blue & Light Pink!!!

Also Mama's Mesh is now being offered to buy by the yard as opposed to in collections!

So settle back as we take you on a tour of spring celebrations and invite you to visit our LBC ONLINE STORE.

I altered these take out containers that I have been hoarding for ages! I thought they would be great to fill with candy & a gift card for a birthday, Easter or Mother's Day treat!

I adhered the sentiment cards (made by MAMBI) to the front & added a beautiful bow to each. I also thought a bow on the top of the containers looked like just the needed, special touch!

On the blue container I used the new rumple ribbons in "Buttercup" (yellow) & "Blue Bells". On the lavender box I used "Spring Lilac" & "Dahlia". All of the colors are so gorgeous & I can't wait to create more projects with them. The colors are just what I needed after a long, cold winter.You certainly won't want to miss out on these beautiful collections!

Now, how about some delicious LBC Blog Candy!
LoveBug Creations is offering a $10 gift certificate to our online store and several other items as well.

What do you have to do to be a possible winner?

1.  Become a follower of each crafter (if you're not already)

2. Leave a love note at each blog spot with your contact info

3. For one extra chance to win like our Facebook Page and leave a comment at

LoveBug Creations

4. Check back on Wednesday for the announcement of the winners

The full spring line up is:

1. Kimi & Pamela: http://lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/

2. Stephanie: http://www.stephanie-eaken.blogspot.com/

3. Dawn Mercedes: http://dawnmercedes.blogspot.com/

4. Connie: http://conniecancrop.blogspot.com/

5.  Katie: http://www.craftykhandy.blogspot.com/

6. Tanya: http://scrappinkymomma.blogspot.com/

7.  Kristi: http://littlepapersprinkles.blogspot.com/

8.  Christine: http://scarletcalliope.wordpress.com

9.  Kathy: http://kathyand3kids.blogspot.com/

10. Stacey: http://staceyscreativecorner.blogspot.com/

We hope you enjoyed your visit and wish you happy spring celebrations!

The next blog spot on this spring tour is the fabulous Dawn Mercedes!

Have a wonderful Sunday y'all!!

Read This!

Happy Wednesday friends!
It's Wednesday which means I am sharing my latest Lovebug Creations' project.
Today I am sharing a gift I made for my daughter's sweet friend. I found this charm on sale and it happened to be her initial, so I bought it, knowing I could come up with something for her. I made her this bookmark (hence my title!):

 I started with 3 colors of rumple ribbon: Purple People Eater from the Fright Night collection, Green Goddess (which is now retired), and Kisses from the Loves Me...Love Me Knot collection, and braided them together. The charm is tied on the end.
I thought this would be awesome to give her for her birthday along with a gift certificate to the bookstore.
The colors of the ribbons are also bright & cheery which suit me fine right now. After snow & cold temps this winter, I am ready to welcome Spring! Today & yesterday are fabulous, with temperatures in the 70's.

We love to read around here & think it's a fabulous hobby for anyone to enjoy! Hope you can appreciate this.
"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them." -Ray Bradbury
Have a wonderful day!
~Stephanie

Valentine's Day Extras

Happy Hump Day y'all! I hope I don't sound like the Geico camel!

Today I am sharing a project I made for Lovebug Creations. Since I made this mini album for Leah, I needed to make an extra special, handmade, from the heart treat for Ty. This is something I originally saw on the web somewhere but can not remember now where! It is a "fortune cookie" heart.

 I handcut 2 hearts from Echo Park's Head Over Heels line. I adhered them together, leaving the top open to slip in the tiny love notes. I attached some rumple ribbon in "Butterfly Blue", which is now retired from the store, but you can find many other beautiful colors.

Are you all ready for Valentine's Day? Be sure to check out the Lovebug Creations' blog and their FB page, The Lovebug Lounge for some great inspiration!

I hope you all have a great day & are staying warm wherever you are. We have snow in our forecast so I'm sure the kids will be home from school tomorrow. Oh joy!
~Stephanie

Long Overdue

Hey y'all!
I am sorry I have not been around here for a while. We went out of town over the weekend to celebrate my oldest brother's 50th birthday!
We all rented a house at a ski resort not too far from here & went snowboarding. Wow-had no idea how difficult that would be! But we had a great time & enjoyed being together for the weekend!
So, I never announced the winner from the Lovebug Creations' blog hop from last weekend. The lucky commenter is Debbie Rodgerson. Congrats Debbie! Send me your address to dreweaken@comcast.net so that I can send you your goodies.

Now I want to (quickly) share some recent layouts that I made:

 Both if these use scraps from my January kit from Memorable Seasons, October Afternoon's Silent Night. I loved this fun collection & wanted to be sure I used every piece of it!

The next layouts were made using my January kit from Memorable Seasons, Pink Paislee's Snow Village. I had so much fun creating with this kit!!

 I am sad that Christmas is behind us now, but am excited that Valentine's Day is just around the corner!!
I love it! I have started working on some projects, have you?
Here is one I made using Lovebug Creations'  newest ribbon "Crushed" from the Loves Me...Love Me Knot collection

 I used both the rumpled ribbon & the sheer ribbon.
This is a treat jar for a friend-a little early Valentine's Day gift!

Hope to be back soon with more to share.
Scrap on!
~Stephanie

"7" Badge

Wow! I am having the hardest time wrapping my brain around the fact that tomorrow, this little guy will be SEVEN!!!

 Ty has charmed our hearts & lives! He is such a sweet & caring boy, but also has a wild streak. He is a bear in the mornings & when he gets mad, watch out! He is sensitive & creative & I love him with all of my heart!!

I made him this birthday badge to wear on his special day. It features Lovebug Creations' rumple ribbon in Simply Red & Simply White, both from the "Star Spangled" collection. 

I started with the large chipboard circle & sprayed it with Glimmer Mist in "Jack Frost".
I then made the rosette from a scrap piece of Crate Paper that was cut to 10" by 1".
On top of that is another, smaller chip circle, also misted with "Jack Frost". On the back of this circle is where I adhered my ribbons.
To that, I added the popped up star. This was punched from a piece of the sheet music paper from October Afternoon's "Silent Night" collection.
I then adhered the "7", which is a vinyl Thicker from American Crafts.

I hope he gets some enjoyment from this badge. He can be a bit finicky!!

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a great Wednesday!
~Stephanie

LBC Secret Santa

Hi guys!
So today is the day for Lovebug Creations CT members to share their "Secret Santa" handmade items!!
I am so excited! I can't reveal who the gift is for, but I made a Christmas tree ornament.

 I poured green & white acrylic paints inside of the glass ball & swirled them around. I love the marbled look. I then tied on the top of the ornament this gorgeous red rumple ribbon from Lovebug Creations. The color is actually from the Edgy Halloween collection, but the red is perfect for Christmas!!
I really hope the LBC recipient will enjoy this ornament as much as I enjoyed making it!
Have a great Sunday y'all!
Merry hugs!
~Stephanie  

LBC Share

Hey everyone & welcome to another Friday!!
These weeks are flying by at super-sonic speed & I have a feeling that before we know it, Christmas will be upon us! It is only 2 months from today!!! WHAT?!

But I digress, since Halloween is next week (& I still haven't decorated the house), I am trying to get in the spooky spirit! I altered a mason jar this week. I originally saw this idea on Pinterest using silk leaves, but since I had none available, I used feathers that I thought looked somewhat creepy & Halloweenish.

     I used Lovebug Creations' rumple ribbon in Halloween Grunge in orange and Edgy Halloween in black to tie around the mouth of the jar. This gives my project a unified and finished touch!

 I added a tealight, and now have another home decor item that can transition from Halloween to Fall.

Thanks for stopping by today! Make it a great Friday!!
~Stephanie

Challenged

Hi friends & followers!
Today I want to share some current projects I have made for some challenge sites.
This card was made using my October kit from Memorable Seasons. It is Simple Stories' Smarty Pants collection.

This layout was also made using the same collection (it's not just for school projects!!):

 I started with this sketch from Life.Paper.Scrapbook:

The cardstock is from Core"dinations (& was not a part of my MS kit). It is embossed with circles & I sanded the paper to look like snowballs.

  The snowflakes are from K&CO & also came from my stash; the flag is from BG; the scalloped border from Glitz (also from my stash).

I have one more project that I previously shared but want to show again. It is the witch hat that I made.

 Paper Issues is hosting a Halloween Hootenanny & I want to enter this in the contest. Check it out here!!!

Thanks for swingin' by today!
See y'all soon!
~Stephanie

More Challenges

Hi friends & happy Hump Day!
Today I want to share some challenges for you to check out!  
Lovebug Creations has a FB group where you can show your crafty projects using those fabulous LoveBug Creations products, called The Lovebug Lounge!

Starting today, there are going to be monthly challenges in the

Lovebug Lounge!

Be sure to head over there to read about the challenge and to enter your project, 

you have almost an entire month and there is a great prize to be won :)

I hope to see you and your project there!

The challenge for this month is to make something Halloween related. Here is my project:

 

I made a witch's hat from a piece of black cardstock that I rolled into a cone. (This was inspired by Christine who always makes some amazing projects!) I added Purple People Eater & Monster Skin rumple ribbon from the "Fright Night" collection. I love the way it turned out! And now we have another Halloween decoration to set out around the house!! The kids will be excited!

Next I want to share my bonus challenge going on in the forums at Memorable Seasons. The challenge is to use song lyrics as your title/journaling on your project. Here is my layout. I have always loved the words to the chorus of the song Heaven by Live & knew I wanted to get them on a page!

Everything here is from Fancy Pants Park Bench collection with the exception of the chipboard alphas & feathers. They are from Thickers and the feathers are mistable ones from Studio Calico. The flowers are from book paper.

I would love it if you would play along with one or both challenges! There are prizes to be won for both!!

Have a great Wednesday y'all!

~Stephanie