American Girl Surprise Party Game!

Hello! Hello!  I am so excited to share this with you today!  My two teenage boys love to play the game CLUE.  You remember that game, don't you?  It is definitely a classic :).

Well, my little princess loves to play games, too, but this one is too much for her.  I realized one day, as she and I were partners, that it wasn't the concept of the game, but the clue sheets that were hindering her from being able to play.  She can't read all the words!

After discovering this significant clue (lol), the cogwheels began turning.  Two weeks later, my modified CLUE game had taken shape, and I just had to turn it into reality :).

Introducing American Girl Surprise Party Game! 

Of course it had to be a party, because girls love parties, right?  They don't really care about solving a mystery about who killed who, but if you say, "surprise party", they are totally into it! 

There are 8 parties in this game; 8 American Girls, and 6 gifts. The object of the game, of course, is to decide who the surprise party is for; where the party is going to be; and what her gift is.

I put matching pictures on the clue sheets and the individual cards.  After playing the game, I realized that I need to include the words, too, because not everyone who plays knows the names of all the American Girls :).

Another tip we have learned is that for this game, it helps if every player has to prove the guesser wrong if he/she can.

We have had lots of fun with this game!!

Thanks for stopping by -Dari

Thank You Card

Hello! Hello!  I made this card for two challenges.  The first one is for Freshly Made Sketches #195.  The second one is for Color My Heart Color Dare #150.










I am going to be very honest.  Both of these were a challenge for me.  I took one look at the sketch design for the Freshly Made Sketches challenge and thought, "Ugh.  That doesn't inspire me at all."  Then, I went to the Color My Heart Color Dare challenge and thought, "I never use those colors together except at Halloween."  That's when I decided that I had to take on both challenges, because I knew it would stretch me :). 

I am so glad I did, because not only do I like the results, I also got out of my comfort zone and grew a little during the process! 

In addition to these two challenges, I wanted to create this card for a "Make & Take" I am doing tonight.  So, it also had to be something that I could mass produce cost efficiently and be easy enough for others to recreate. And, all of the products had to be current, which means I had to set aside some of my favorites (lol). I think they will be pleased.

Here are my ingredients:

CTMH white daisy card base
CTMH Stamp Sets: Honeycomb (C1537), Finding the Words (D1646), Wild Wonders (C1558), Your Own Kind of Wonderful (D1627)
CTMH White Daisy cardstock
CTMH damask embossing folder
CTMH Artbooking Cricut Cartridge (hexagons and font)
CTMH 3D foam tape
CTMH dye inks: slate, sweet leaf and autumn terracotta (I don't have Sunset which is what the color dare called for).
CTMH Liquid Glass (adhere the butterfly to card)

Other ingredients: slate cardstock and clear glitter glue (both Michaels).

Thanks for stopping by! -Dari

Wedding Explosion Box

 Hello! Hello!  I created this explosion  box for my niece as a bridal shower gift. The color combination was harder for me to work with than I thought it would be; however, I like the results :).

 There are 8 pockets inside with a tag in each for journaling or adding additional photos.  There are 12 designated spots for photos.

 These pretty little flowers were made using CTMH's Flowers For Mom (B1473) stamp set, pansy purple dye ink, cranberry dye ink, versamark ink, gold embossing powder and my heat gun. 

 I love how simple yet elegant this layer turned out.  I cut this flourish out on my Cricut using the Cindy Loo cartridge. The fun sentiment came from one of my favorite stamp sets: CTMH Your Own Kind of Wonderful (D1627).

 I was pleasantly surprised with the lacy feel of this layer!   I love how the punched border complements and accentuates the stamped images.  For this layer, I used CTMH's Flowers for Mom Stamp set (flower), Believe in Yourself C1574 (corner flourish and swirl flourish), Saddle, Cocoa, Cranberry, Barn Red dye inks, Zig Emboss  pen, and Lavender Pearl Ex powder. 

Just a note, although you can't see it in the photo, there is a purple metallic shine in the center of the flower.  I created this by coloring the center of the flower with my Zig Embossing pen, brushing the Pearl Ex over it with a paint brush, wiping off the extra powder and heat embossing it to set it.  I used this technique a lot in this box.

Just realized this photo is upside down and having a moment of, "I don't want to fix it."  I love the center layer of this box.  It really is the "icing on the cake" :).  The photo above (glittery lace border) is on two sides and the flowers shown here make up the other two sides of this layer.  I used the same technique described above with the Pearl Ex on these flowers.   For the sentiment on the center bottom shown here (upside down), I used CTMH's Happy To Be Friends Stamp Set (C1605) and Cocoa dye ink. It is simply beautiful!

My niece was so excited about her gift.  She said, "I've seen your boxes on Facebook and have really wanted one!"  Well, this one was totally customized just for her :). 

I did not identify the stamps used for the box top, so here they are: Blossom WOTG Stamp Set (leaves) stamped with New England Ivy, Flowers for Mom (techniques mentioned in post), February 2015 SOTM A Happy Hello (S1502) for the circle pendant.

Thanks for stopping by! -Dari

You Warm My Heart Card Freshly Made Sketches 193

Hello! Hello!  I walked down to the post office yesterday hoping that my CTMH order had arrived.  Boy was I excited when it was!  I came home and had to create something with my fun new stuff.  I ordered CTMH's Diamond Embossing folder, Treats of Friendship Stamp Set (C1616) and Tweezers.  I wanted to use all three of these products; however, I couldn't find my mini sparkles, so I didn't get to try out my tweezers :(.  Instead, I used some Liquid Pearls. 

I found the inspiration for this layout from Freshly Made Sketches Challene 193.  I love checking out to see what everyone else does with the same sketch :).

I knew I wanted a light blue and pink together, because these colors are happy together and also look dainty, just the way I picture teacups!  On the inside of my card is the sentiment, "You're like a cup of tea, you warm my heart."  I left it there.  That way it can be used for a Thank You card, a Thinking of You Card or a Just Because card.

Here are the ingredients for my card:

Light blue and pink cardstocks (Michaels)
CTMH White Daisy Cardstock
Floral ribbon (Michaels)
CTMH Dots Embossing Folder
CTMH Treats of Friendship Stamp Set (C1616)
CTMH Pretty Petals (C1599)
CTMH January 2013 SOTM Little Reminder Stamp Set (S1201)  DISCONTINUED- I used this for the stitching along the top and bottom edged of the pink rectangle.
CTMH 3D Foam Tape
CTMH dye inks: Slate, Pixie, Glacier and Grey Flannel (retired.  Equivalent: Whisper).

Thanks for stopping by! -Dari