Welcome to the Grad Bash Blog Hop! Plus Giveaway!!!

Welcome to the Grad Bash Blog Hop!!!  In this hop, we are sharing projects for graduation season!  Also, don't miss my giveaway at the end of this post!  You should have arrived here from Yolanda's blog www.craftyscentiments.blogspot.com.  If you are just joining in on the fun and would like to hop along with us, please visit Nadia's blog http://nadiasbeautifulmess.blogspot.com/ to start at the beginning.

My project is a card I made for a friend who graduated from college recently.  This card has no Cricut cuts and took me only a few minutes to put together.  I used purple and white - her school's colors.  The word art is by Elegant Word Art by Bethany. 

I used ribbon, clear star buttons, a little embossing, and purple stickles to embellish this card.  It is hard to see the purple stickles from the pictures, but it is there! 

Now it is time to announce my GIVEAWAY!!!  I am giving away the Printing 101 Cricut Cartridge (brand new in box)!!!  I think this one is retired, so don't miss your chance to get it!  I love the puzzle pieces this cartridge has.

To Enter my Giveaway, please become a follower (if you are not already) and leave a comment on this post.  I will leave this giveaway open for a week.  I will announce the winner on Monday, May 9th.

Thanks for hopping along with us!  The next stop on the hop is Carrie at www.paperglitterstamps.blogspot.com.  I have listed the entire hop line-up below in case you get lost along the way and/or started here.  Enjoy the rest of the hop!!!

Blog Hop List (in order):
Nadia www.nadiasbeautifulmess.blogspot.com
Giselle www.crossmyheartpapercrafts.blogspot.com
Sandra www.365daysofcricut.blogspot.com
Kristy www.craftin-on-my-door.blogspot.com
Jazmin www.jazzyscards.blogspot.com
Alma hwww.almabrooksblog.blogspot.com
Yolonda www.craftyscentiments.blogspot.com
Melanie www.inlovewithabug.blogspot.com  ***YOU ARE HERE***
Carrie www.paperglitterstamps.blogspot.com 
Adri www.macheriecreations.com
Sylvia www.bellascrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com
Amber www.pixiperfectcreations.blogspot.com
Darlene http://www.talesoftayandbay.blogspot.com/
Anita http://www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com/
                                                                                  
Melanie                                               

Happy Birthday to A Little Princess!

Happy Friday and oh, I think there is a wedding happening today?  :)  I made this card for an adorable little girl who just turned 3 years old.  She invited my husband and I to her birthday party because she considers us her "buddies" (we are really good friends with her parents).  Her birthday party had a princess theme so I had to make her a card suited for a princess.  I thought it seemed appropriate to share this card today!  Are you watching the Royal Wedding today?

Materials Used:

• Castle on a hill is from the Provencial Princess SVG set by Lettering Delights (cut with Cricut using Sure Cuts A Lot).  Popped up using Therm-O-Web 3D foam squares. Textured using Swiss Dots embossing template and my Sizzix Texture Boutique.
• Sentiment by TLC Creations
• 3 Punches - Star and heart shapes
• Gem Stickers by Creative Charms
• Glitter and Patterned Cardstock by DCWV, Solid Paper by Recollections

I have entered this project in the following challenges and link-ups:

Whimsical Wednesday Challenge - It's a Royal Celebration
Patches of Pink Link-up Party
Sentimental Sundays Challenge #52 - Let's Get Punchy
DYSU Challenge #17 - Make It Pop
Under a Cherry Tree LD Link-up

Thanks for stopping by!  Don't forget to stop by this weekend for the Grad Bash Blog Hop.  I will be having a giveaway!       

Mel                                                                    
                                                                    

Someone at Lettering Delights Liked My Project!! Also, Additional Easter Savings at LD!!!

I just looked at the latest newsletter from Lettering Delights and noticed a picture of my Easter bunny treat bags staring back at me!!!  I am so excited that someone at Lettering Delights liked my project!  I know this isn't super exciting news, but doesn't it feel good when this happens?  Just like it feels good to read all of the lovely comments from all of you, my wonderful followers and friends.  You are terrific!  I truly enjoy visiting your blogs, and I am so happy you are here supporting me and fueling my crafty talents!!

Here is the excerpt from the LD Newsletter:

Also, if you haven't shopped DOLLAR DAYS at Lettering Delights yet, you may want to hurry.  This sale ends on April 28th.  As an added perk (and I am sure to motivate us to buy), Lettering Delights is offering additional Easter savings as well.  Take $10 off a purchase of $25 or more!  At checkout, enter coupon code: easterbasket.  Click here to shop now!  While you are there, grab the Lettering Delights Friday Freebies too which are available here and here!  Enjoy!

I wish you all a happy holiday weekend!                                                

"Grow Your Dream"

Happy Thursday!!!  I finally finished the project I have been working on!  Let me tell you, it was quite the project!  I had a vision of flower topiaries with the saying "Grow Your Dream," and I didn't really think about the time it would take to hand make all of the flowers.  Even though it was time consuming, this project was worth it.  I absolutely love the way the these turned out and I finally got to use my Creative Charms kit!

Here is a picture of the Flower Topiaries:

Materials Used:

• Styrofoam balls and cylinders (for inside pots), Pots, Spanish Moss, and Paper-wrapped Wire Sticks (all in floral section of JoAnn's)
• Lots of Glimmer Mist!!! 
• 6 Petal Flower SVG by Images by Heather M cut in two sizes (cut with Cricut using Sure Cuts A Lot).  See tutorial here on how to make these flowers.
• SNF Lollihop font by Lettering Delights in brown vinyl (cut with Cricut using SCAL)
• Butterfly embellishments by Creative Charms (part of the April Deal of the Month kit)
• Ric Rac ribbon by Bazzill

I have entered this project in the following challenges:

Home Decor Challenge at Moxie Fab World
Whimsical Wednesday Challenge
Patches of Pink Link-up Party
Sentimental Sundays Challenge #51
Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge

Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week!
Melanie

Winner of Easter Eggstravaganza Blog Hop Giveaway!!!!

Congratulations Babe O'Mara, you are the winner of the Creative Charms kit and bottle of purple Stickles!  I will send you an email to get your mailing address.  Thanks to everyone that hopped with us or stopped by because K Andrew (Getting Cricky) sent you!  I appreciate each and every one of you and hope to get to know you all better.  Thanks for your wonderful comments and for becoming followers of my blog.  I love sharing my creations and love to hear from you!

                                                    
                                                                        

Easter Eggstravaganza Blog Hop and Giveaway!!!

Welcome to the Easter Eggstravaganza Blog Hop!!!  In this hop, we are sharing some wonderful Easter treats for the upcoming holiday!  I have a treat for you too!!!  Don't miss my giveaway at the end of this post!  You should have arrived here from Damaris' blog www.latinnydoll.blogspot.com.  If you are just joining in on the fun and would like to hop along with us, please visit Nadia's blog http://nadiasbeautifulmess.blogspot.com/ to start at the beginning.

My Easter treat project is these adorable bunny treat boxes which I filled with chocolate eggs.  I made them in white and brown so they look more like the Easter bunny (at least my vision of him), but any color or color combination would be cute.  My nieces and nephews are going to love these!!!  Also, I made a couple carrot-shaped boxes which I filled with jelly beans.  All bunnies need their carrots right!  :)

 

 

To make these treat boxes, I used my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot (3rd party software that allows you to cut fonts on your computer and SVG files (similar to Cricut cartridge paper piecings)).  The bunny treat boxes are part of the Animal Boxes and Bags SVG set available for purchase at Lettering Delights.  This set is on sale right now for only $2!!!  You can check out the entire set here.  There are lots of cute animals in this set!  The carrot boxes were a free SVG file by http://stayathomemomcrafts.blogspot.com/ (this SVG file is no longer available, but I believe there are similar boxes available online).

To embellish the bunnies, I added whiskers, brads for the eyes, curled the ears, added flowers and ribbon to the "girl" bunnies, and I made them all fuzzy using flocking powder.  If you are not familiar with flocking powder, it is awesome!  All you do is apply glue all over the area you want fuzzy (I use a glue stick), then spread the flocking powder over the area until it is covered well and press it down with your fingers.  Then shake off the excess powder.  I do all of this within my glitter tray so I can reuse all of the excess powder and it makes clean-up a breeze.

I used Velcro squares to close the boxes so they are easy to open/close and to make the boxes re-useable for future treats and/or keepsakes my nieces and nephews may want to store in them.  Thanks for looking at my project! 

Now it is time to announce my GIVEAWAY!!!  I am giving away a super cute Spring/Easter embellishment kit by Creative Charms along with a bottle of purple Stickles glitter glue!!!  I thought these seemed appropriate for your Easter embellishment needs and I have these myself and love them!!!  I will be sharing a project using these embellishments soon, so stay tuned.

**To Enter my Giveaway** --- Update 4/12:  Giveaway Now CLOSED
1)  You must be a "Follower" - if you are not a follower, please choose to follow me by clicking the "follow" button on my blog sidebar.
2)  Leave a comment on this post
I will announce the winner on Tuesday, April 12th

Thanks for hopping along with us!  The next stop on the hop is Jazmin at http://JazzysCards.blogspot.com/.  I have listed the entire hop line-up below in case you get lost along the way and/or started here.  Have a great weekend and enjoy the rest of the hop!!!

Easter Eggstravaganza Hop Blog List (in order):
Nadia - http://nadiasbeautifulmess.blogspot.com/
Giselle - http://crossmyheartpapercrafts.blogspot.com/
Donna - http://donnasdreamworks.blogspot.com/
Yolonda - http://www.craftyscentiments.blogspot.com/
Jennifer - www.craftycardgallery.blogspot.com
Kim - http://rickettscricuts.blogspot.com/
Damaris - www.latinnydoll.blogspot.com
Melanie - http://inlovewithabug.blogspot.com/ ***YOU ARE HERE***
Jazmin - http://JazzysCards.blogspot.com/
Monica - www.stampindaisies.com
Gabriela - http://www.sheinksalot.blogspot.com/
Kacee - http://youhadmeatscrap.blogspot.com/
Darla - www.stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com
Amber - http://pixiperfectcreations.blogspot.com/
Sylvia - Www.bellascrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com
Monica F- http://simplycricutting.blogspot.com/
Rebecca - www.creationswithbecka.blogspot.com
Carrie - http://paperglitterstamps.blogspot.com/
Patricia - http://creativediva98.blogspot.com/                     

Melanie                      

Happy B-Day Horseshoe Card

I just finished making a birthday card for my niece who turns eleven years old this coming weekend.  I can't believe how fast she is growing up.  She lives on a hobby farm and adores horses so I had to include something relating to horses on her card.  I used the cute horseshoe from the Grandpa's Organic Farm SVG Collection by SVGCuts to create the "U" for the "happy birthday to you" sentiment on the card. 

Other materials used:

• I used my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot to cut the Happy Birthday caption from the Birthday Dinos SVG Collection by SVGCuts and the Horseshoe listed above.
• #2 used for the sentiment is a glittery sticker by Making Memories (used a paper punch for the circle)
• I used my Sizzix Texture Boutique and the Stampin' Up! Elegant Lines embossing folder to create the texture for the card background.  I added distress ink to highlight the texture.
• Used glitter paper, skittles, and ric-rac ribbon to embellish

Thanks for stopping by!