Mother/Daughter Tea

On May 7, our church hosted a Mother/Daughter Tea in celebration of the Mother's Day holiday. What a wonderful, fun event!!

About 19 ladies signed up to host a table. We had to decorate the table (in our choice of theme), serve our tablemates, make sure the guest felt welcome, set up the food on our table, and clean up. For weeks, I thought about our theme. I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go. I'm not a very 'serious' or 'fru-fru' kind of person, so I knew the theme would be something fun. In the beginning, I thought that I would go with Cinderella. Then, I found out that our plates would be green ...... Yeah, NO. That would not work with Cinderella's signature blue.

Next thought???? The Princess and the Frog! YES!!! I could go with a fun theme that would not clash with the provided plates, tea cups, and glassware. :) I was happy. Hopefully, my guests would be, too.



This is the final look for our table. There is a 3-tier stand in the middle of the 'lily pad.'


Our Princess and her frog. :) This shows the middle of the table without the 3-tiered stand. The sign tells the name of our table and explains the meaning of F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely On God).


Each guest at our table received a tiara (because we're ALL princesses) and a goody bag. The goody bag was adorned with a frog magnet and held a small frog finger puppet and frog lollipop.


The place mats for each place setting was round to be similar to a lily pad. :) The napkins were cloth and a very pretty green that went very well with the darker green plates and place mats.




Gotta have a napkin ring, right? :) I added the yellow/gold crown on the purple ring to add a little spice and color to the green theme.


I used my Cricut (obviously) and SCAL a LOT in this project. It was SO much fun to put together and even more fun to share with our tablemates. Now ... I need to get some cards done to thank them for joining me! :) More frogs to cut out. Monday .... I can do it all on Monday ... :)




Have a wonderful Sunday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!

Clearly Inspired Challenge #28 - Critters

Welcome to Clearly Inspired Challenge #28!! Today, it's all about Critters. Critters is such a wide-open topic for me. There are ladybugs, butterflies, snakes, frogs, pigs, horses, and soooooo many other 'critters' in my stamp stash. I finally chose to fall back on one of my very favorite images of all time, though ..... a duck. :)


Isn't he adorable?? I love creating with this little guy. He's got such a fun attitude and brings a smile to my face every time. Coloring him is awesome, too!! Doesn't he look like he's having a blast splashing in the puddles?

Card Recipe:
Stamps - Cute Critters
Paper - Raging River, light blue, white
Ink - black, turquoise
Copics - B29, B24, B21, Y11, Y15, YR16
Accessories - Tabs & Tags Dies, raindrops, ribbon, pop dots


Here are the details of our challenges....

-Challenges are now going to be on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month, and you'll have 2 weeks to finish each challenge.

-Challenges can use any stamps or digis from any company

-Only one entry per person per challenge

-Prizes will be given away after both challenges for the month. The number of prizes is determined by the number of participants for the month. For every 20 entries there will be a $10 gift certificate for stamps or digis up for grabs. (For example if over the entire month there were a total of 60 participants in both challenges, there will be 3 $10 gift certificates and 3 of the featured digital images to give away.)

-We will also be giving away the featured digi image....one for every 20 entries!


Head right on over to Lori's blog and the Clearly Inspired Challenge to join the challenge and to see what others on the design team have created.




Create with the Critters!!! I want to see what you come up with!

Have an awesome Friday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!



~*Shell*~

And the Winners Are ....

The winners of our May Blog Hop are .....

From Jan's blog, She's Gone Stampin', our first winner is Shelly Schmidt, My Creative Rumblings.

From Christi's Blog, our second winner is Vikki Jo, Vikki Jo's Corner.

Each winner must email Lori (lori@cleardollarstamps.com) to claim their prize of a $10 gift certificate for clear or digital stamps from the CDS store.

Blog Hop!!! Let's Hear It For the Boys!!!

Welcome to the Clear Dollar Stamps Monthly Blog Hop!!!!

How hard do you find it to create masculine cards? They seem to be the hardest for me most of the time. Today is all about helping you with a little inspiration for those 'guy' cards! And, at the same time, we're giving you an opportunity to WIN! :)

You should have come here from the so-very-talented Christi's blog. If not, leave a comment here and head back to Lori's blog to get a good start on all of the wonderful blog offerings in our hop today.



So ... let's get the mojo wheels rollin'!


I couldn't resist adding this scripture from "A Godly Father" to the beautiful image from "Scripture Children." I love both. With the browns and the brads, this card is very fit for a Father's Day card - or any occasion to honor a guy.

Card Recipe:

Stamps - Scripture Children, A Godly Father
Paper - Mud Pie, black, white, caramel, chocolate
Ink - black, white
Copics - none
Accessories - Tabs & Tags Dies, brads, silver dots, cuttlebug, ribbon, pop dots



And, because I just can't help myself ... I made a second card..... :)

For this one, I chose the shadowbox card technique. Here is the card closed with the belly band on. This one has a very fun, relaxed feel ....

The card open.

For this one, I used the great set "Monkey Madness." It is retiring, and I'm SO sad about that!!! If you want this wonderful set, you need to get it quickly. The sentiment (from the "Father's' Day" set) says it all! :)

Card Recipe:

Stamps - Monkey Madness (retiring), Father's Day
Paper - Mud Pie, black, white, double-sided dp
Ink - black
Copics - G94, G99, BG72, E31,E33
Accessories - Tabs & Tags Dies, Cuttlebug, Cricut, SCAL, 1/4" circle punch, pop dots, linen thread


So, what do you think? Have these projects gotten your mojo moving? Now, what's the secret to winning? Comment, comment, comment!! Just comment on as many blog in the hop as you can.

PRIZES: 2 lucky winners will each receive a $10 gift certificate for the CDS store for purchase of clear or digital stamps ONLY.

WINNERS: Winners will be randomly chosen from comments received on two DT member blogs. Winners will be announced on the CDS blog and on here Wednesday, May 18th.

From here, you need to scoot on over to Linda's fantabulous blog. I know that she's going to have something totally amazing to show you!


So, make sure you comment as much as possible! You don't want to miss a chance to win - and I want YOU to win!! :)




I hope you have a beautiful Sunday and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!!


~*Shell*~

It's Coming!!!!

The monthly blog hop for Clear Dollar Stamps is COMING!!! This Sunday - May 15th - I'll be part of the monthly blog hop, and I can't wait! Make sure you comment on all the blogs in the hop so that you have a bigger chance of winning. :)

Don't miss the Retirement Party going on at Clear Dollar Stamps right now, either! They have some wonderful sets retiring .... boohoo!!! .... and you don't want to miss the chance to get them while they are still around. I hate to lose these sets!!!


Up today .... This card was actually made for the VSN Mini challenges on SCS a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't play all of the challenges that night, but hope to play in the big event on the 21st of May.


This challenge was a sketch challenge and I really enjoyed it. For some reason, my card came together in my mind fairly quickly. I think it's soft and would definitely work well for a grandmother. :) Don't you just love that ribbon!? It matches so well, too.

Card Recipe -
Stamps - Lovely Women, Wedding Cake
Paper - pink, turquoise, dp, white
Ink - black
Copics - R81, R83, R85, G94, G99
Accessories - Cuttlebug, folder, sewing machine, pearls, ribbon, pop dots


Check back this weekend. Don't forget the blog hop on SUNDAY!!! :)



~*Shell*~

Clearly Inspired Challenge #27 - Totally Turquoise

It is time, once again, for the Clearly Inspired Challenge - brought to you by Clear Dollar Stamps! I know you can't wait to join us in this great challenge.

All you have to do is create something using turquoise! What could be easier than that?!

Doesn't this Silly Goose just make you happy? I love him!! The image here looks a little ... speckled, doesn't it? Well, that's the Sheer Shimmer that was sprayed on the black, background layer. It looks SO cool in real life. The present paper was created with the present stamp in the Silly Goose set. It was stamped in black randomly and in turquoise randomly.

Card Recipe -
Stamps - Silly Goose
Paper - white, black, Turquoise Gem
Ink - black, turquoise
Copics - O, B05, C1, C3, YR68, YR16
Accessories - Cuttlebug, folder, ribbon, sheer shimmer, pop dots, sewing machine, crystals


Here are the details of our challenges....

-Challenges are now going to be on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month, and you'll have 2 weeks to finish each challenge.

-Challenges can use any stamps or digis from any company

-Only one entry per person per challenge

-Prizes will be given away after both challenges for the month. The number of prizes is determined by the number of participants for the month. For every 20 entries there will be a $10 gift certificate for stamps or digis up for grabs. (For example if over the entire month there were a total of 60 participants in both challenges, there will be 3 $10 gift certificates and 3 of the featured digital images to give away.)

-We will also be giving away the featured digi image....one for every 20 entries!


Head right on over to Lori's blog and the Clearly Inspired Challenge to join the challenge and to see what others on the design team have created.


I can't wait to see what you create with the turquoise!!!



~*Shell*~