Recycled Candle Holders....

I have a problem.  A real problem.  I have, "I can never ever throw anything away" disease.  Do any of you have the same illness?  I seriously look at everything and wonder if maybe, just maybe, I can make something out of it. ;)

I love burning candles as much as I love using glitter! So when this little cutie of a candle was finished, I was ready to throw it away.....until inspiration hit me that it would make a fabulous container. 

It's a container with a lid.  Perfect.  

I proceeded to wash it out, take, all the labels off of it, and let it dry thoroughly.  

Then I remembered how much I adore those Peony flowers I've been so obsessed with, and thought they'd be perfect to cover up the Bath & Body Works logo. 

So I made them in a variety of colors. 

Because variety is the spice of life right? ;)

So here's my first one in shades of blue......

And in orange with a hint of pink.  

My pink peony.....with strawberry designer paper.....love. 

And last but not least, my sunshiney happy treat container in bright yellow. 

I bought the candy Sixlets, which by the way, comes in a variety of colors.  I bought pretty silver ones in the wedding aisle at Hobby Lobby. I filled my containers with 'em.

 Wouldn't these make gorgeous wedding favors?  You can customize the colors to fit the theme of the wedding!

If you missed my tutorial on how to create these fun flowers be sure to click HERE!  

Cortney is involved in a huge gallery showing this Friday night in Chicago for the "Changing the Face of Beauty" campaign.  A local photographer, Michael Canavan has teamed up with 15 of our kids to photograph them and invite advertisers, modeling agents, talent agents etc. to come see the photos and meet our kids.  

I am nervous and excited to see who will be there. 

Here's hoping she gets "discovered."  

Have a great weekend!

A Little Family....

Yesterday would have been my Nonnie's 93rd birthday.  It is hard to believe that she has been gone for almost 2 years already. I miss her greatly. I loved this picture of her with my niece, Katie.  I loved being able to capture this priceless moment between a Great Grandmother and her Great Grandchild.  

I created this LO for the Cricut Babies idea book.  I used Baby Steps, Flower Shoppe, and the Kate's ABC's cartridges. I did a bit of painting, sewing, and even used Washi tape. 

....and here are a couple of pictures of my "babies."  How they grow from such tiny little beings to big people in such a short amount of time! It is such a bitter sweet thing.......

Here's my girl.....looking all pretty in her sweater dress.

And my green eyed, driving, working, soon to be a junior in high school teen!

I am in the final count down at school.  Friday is my last day and I am very excited to spend some time this summer catching up a bit!

It will fly by I know, because all good things do.  But I am going to try and soak it all in and enjoy!

Crafty Secret's Design Team Challenge and Linky Party!

If you are looking for my JustRite post, be sure to scroll down a bit!  

Today is Crafty Secret's DT challenge and Linky Party.  On top of all of that goodness, I also have a tutorial to share with you!  I will show you how to use Tim Holtz Distress Markers and the Crafty Secret's digital images to create a card like this. For my card I used the flower from the new digital set, Flower Garden. 

I love the watercolored look.....imperfectly perfect. 

1. For my card above I printed my image twice on watercolor paper. 

2. I pulled out a transparency to "color" on and use as my painter's palette.

3. I used various colors of Tim Holtz Distress Markers.  

4. "Color" on the transparency.  Use a water brush to pick up the color.

5. I used red and yellow to color my flowers. 

6. Light green, dark green, and a bit of yellow for the leaves.

7. Use a Spellbinder's die to cut out the image.

8. Leave the die on and sponge around image with Tim Holtz Distress ink in Antique Linen.

9. Take die off to reveal the beautiful clean edge that remains!

10. Use water to spritz your image.  It will mottle the paint a bit for an interesting effect.

11. Let it dry.

12.  To create faux water droplets use Goosebumps.  It will dry clear for a cool effect!

13. Paint flowers a second time and cut out.

14. Use glossy accents to the center and add black Flower Soft to the middles.  Bend the flower petals down a bit. 

Be sure to pay the other gals a visit! They are always so inspiring!

• Vicki Chrisman Team Leader
• Michele Kovack
• Darlene Pavlick
• Melissa Bove
• Rebekah Faries
• Sheila Rumney

JustRite's New Release Day 5!

Good morning! 

 Today is the last day of JustRite's June release! I hope you have loved the sets as much as I do! Today I have a Leafy Background set to show you.  While I was deciding what to do with this set, I realized that some of the leaves looked like hearts. So I thought I would make one of them stand out a bit by coloring only part of the background stamp with my Tim Holtz Distress Markers. I added some shadows of blue in between the branches.

I added glossy accents to the "heart" and the berries to accentuate them a bit. 

I splattered some dark pink paint on with a toothbrush, added a sentiment, and a few sequins to complete my card. 

Here is the stamp.......  :)

For more creative inspiration be sure to pop on over to these ladies' blogs!

JustRite Inspiration

Becca Feeken 

Darsie Bruno

Michele Kovack

Sheri Holt

Eva Dobilas

Angela Barkhouse

Marisa Job

 Have a fantastic day my friends!!!

: D

JustRite's New Release Day 4! Halloween!!

I couldn't be more excited that JustRite came out with new Halloween sets!  I adore Halloween and couldn't wait to create with these two sets designed by Samantha Walker.  The first set, Boo-tiful Cameos has darling images and phrases, and the second set, Spider Web is an awesome background stamp. 

For my fuzzy spider Halloween card below I stamped the background with Versamark and sprinkled it with Zing's orange embossing powder. The spiders were also stamped in Versamark, but then embossed in black.  I added Flower Soft to their bodies.....because all scary spiders should be fuzzy! ;)  I finished it off with a sentiment embossed in green, a bit of cream seam binding, twine, and an orange rhinestone. 

I found these darling treat packets over at the Silhouette store.  They are perfect for slipping a pack of gum, or a bag of M & M's inside.  I used papers from The Paper Loft and again embossed the images with various Zing powders.  

Seriously, could this set be ANY cuter??

This background stamp is a total must have! 

Pay these talented ladies a visit....they have incredible Halloween projects to share with you!

JustRite Inspiration
Barb Schram
Eva Dobilas
Heidi Blankenship 
Michele KovackMargie Higuchi
Angela Barkhouse
Sheri Holt 
Kathy Jones

Enjoy your Sunday! 

I will have a double post tomorrow......one for JustRite and the other for Crafty Secrets.

:)