#TGIFC134 - Gratitude Challenge

Good morning...and happy Friday!  I'm back...with something lovely for this week's TGIF Challenge!

 It's #TGIFC134...and it's a Gratitude Challenge!

Click the image above to go to the TGIF Challenges blog for all the details.  You'll be able to see what the TGIF designers have shared to inspire you...and you'll be able to see what other challengers have created, too!  But first...here's my Gratitude Challenge project!

Yes...it's a spoon...etched with one of my favorite all time words...thankful.  I think there are so many things to be grateful for year round...but I love Thanksgiving...a time to set other things aside and focus on gratitude, on blessings and on being thankful.

For many years I cooked the Thanksgiving meal.  I'd take off from work and spend three whole days cooking everything from scratch...all the way down to homemade bread and chicken stock for the stuffing!  Yep...kinda crazy...and I LOVED it...but at a certain point it became a bit overwhelming.  So...we started eating at a restaurant...which was good...but there's nothing like a home cooked Thanksgiving meal.  This year, I'm thankful that we'll be cooking at home with family again.   And I'm not cooking...which I'm also thankful for.  When we're the holiday guests I like to share something with the host.  I was out and about and found this spoon...and I knew it would be the perfect Thanksgiving hostess gift.  It already says exactly what I know I'll be feeling about sharing the day.  So I picked it up...and added a simple tag.  And it's simple and perfect!

How will YOU be inspired by this week's Gratitude Challenge?  You'll find the link to add your own project at the #TGIFC134 Challenge page HERE.  I can't wait to see what you create!

Have an amazing day!

Ordering online?  Remember to use this month's Host Code for a special gift from me!

Product List

Colorful Seasons Photopolymer Bundle [145348]

Night Of Navy 1/2" Gingham Ribbon [144232]

Twine Baker's Whisper White [124262]

Tag Topper Scalloped Punch [133324]

Rhinestone Basic Jewels [144220]

#TGIF112 - Let's Hear It For the Boys!

Good morning...and happy Friday!  I'm back...with something lovely for this week's TGIF Challenge!

 It's #TGIF112..and it's a challenge all about the boys!  Big boys or little boys...this week is all about them!

Click the image above to go to the TGIF Challenges blog for all the details.  You'll be able to see what the TGIF designers have shared to inspire you...and you'll be able to see what other challengers have created, too!  But first...here's my Let's Hear It For the Boys challenge project...or should I say projects? 

So...we're lucky grandparents in that we get to spend some time each summer with our grandsons...Timothy and Kenneth...and each week I like to surprise them with a small gift.  We're doing a lot of reading this summer...so this week's gift is a new book...and this week's TGIF Challenge was the perfect opportunity to do some fun wrapping.   Timothy is 7-1/2, and he is an amazing reader!  His summer goal is to read 500 pages each week!  He reads most of them...but we also take turns reading, too.  A couple of weeks ago I asked him why he had left his books in the car, and he looked at me like I was crazy and said "I read in the car, too, Nana!"  I don't know what I was thinking!   Ha!  And Kenneth...he's five...and he's all about dinosaurs, super heroes and Star Wars.

I started with the tags...and I pulled out Celebrations Thinlints for the base, the Pieces & Patterns stamp set, and the Coffee Break DSP.   The dinosaur is for Kenneth, of course...and the bear is for Timothy.  I'm completely smitten with the hello there sentitment...and it's actually what I say to the boys each morning!
 

I made matching note cards, too...

and I LOVE how fun they are.  Sweet, simple and full of color...just like those little grandsons of ours! 

How will YOU be inspired by this week's Let's Hear It For the Boys challenge?  You'll find the link to add your own project at the #TGIF112 Challenge page HERE.  I can't wait to see what you create!

Have an amazing day!

Ordering online?  Remember to use this month's Host Code for a special gift from me!

Product List

Pieces & Patterns Wood-Mount Stamp Set [143840] $27.00	Pieces & Patterns Clear-Mount Stamp Set [143843] $19.00	Coffee Break Designer Series Paper [144155] $11.00	Soft Sky 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131203] $8.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $9.00	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974] $6.50
Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes [131527] $6.00	Crushed Curry 3/8" Mini Chevron Ribbon [144197] $7.00	Crushed Curry Solid Baker’S Twine [144354] $3.00	Linen Thread [104199] $4.50	Basics Pack 3 Washi Tape [144223] $8.00	1-3/4" Circle Punch [119850] $18.00
2-1/4" (5.7 Cm) Circle Punch [143720] $18.00	1-3/8" Circle Punch [119860] $16.00	Big Shot [143263] $110.00	Celebration Thinlits Dies [143703] $30.00	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026] $10.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00
SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332] $7.00

Saturday Catalog CASE - From My Kitchen

Hello, friend...and welcome...for this week's Saturday Catalog Case. Oh...and I'm also celebrating National Black Cow Day...so let's start there!

When I'm looking for a bit of crafting or celebration inspiration I look to the National Day Calendar...and I can always find something fun.  Today...and each year on June 10th...is National Black Cow Day.  Now...my mom always referred to the typical root beer float as a black cow...and I've written about how much we love our root beer floats.  But...I've learned that a true black cow is made using chocolate ice cream and root beer...or vanilla ice cream and cola.  The things we learn while stamping...LOL!  I also learned that there's such thing as a Black Cow Cupcake...which fit perfectly for what I had planned for today's Saturday Catalog Case.

So...I put it all together...for this...Black Cow Cupcakes...sweetly packaged with the Label Me Pretty Bundle.

I fell in love with every tag in this Annual Catalog photo...and it's today's CASE.  I seriously couldn't resist. 

Actually...I did a pile of them...because I love to give away goodies...and because they were so easy! 

Oh...and because this new, 3/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon...in every 2016-2018 InColor...is truly as amazing as it looks!

As for the Black Cow Cupcakes...I grabbed the recipe HERE.  They're made with cocoa and root beer extract...so they're truly black cow flavored, including the root beer frosting!  I used Watkins Root Beer Concentrate...and it all truly has the old fashioned root beer flavor...like the root beer barrel candies we used to get in the penny candy bin.  Yep...showing my age a bit here...and it's all good.  Ha! 

And one last note...if you leave your cupcakes on the counter to cool...the cute five-year-old in the house may just decide to help himself...and that too is all good!  

Have an amazing day!

Product List

Label Me Pretty Wood-Mount Bundle [145304] $36.75	Label Me Pretty Clear-Mount Bundle [145305] $31.50	Label Me Pretty Wood-Mount Stamp Set [143858] $23.00	Label Me Pretty Clear-Mount Stamp Set [143861] $17.00	Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack [144177] $10.00	Dapper Denim 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [141414] $8.00
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $9.00	Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Pad [141396] $6.50	Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad [141397] $6.50	Peekaboo Peach Classic Stampin' Pad [141398] $6.50	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad [141395] $6.50	Emerald Envy 3/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon [144226] $7.00
Flirty Flamingo 3/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon [144227] $7.00	Peekaboo Peach 3/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon [144228] $7.00	Sweet Sugarplum 3/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon [144229] $7.00	Twine Baker's Whisper White [124262] $3.00	Pretty Label Punch [143715] $18.00	Starburst Punch [143717] $18.00
1-3/4" Circle Punch [119850] $18.00	1/8" Circle Handheld Punch [134365] $9.00	SNAIL Permanent Adhesive [104332] $7.00	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430] $4.00