doily business cards + packaging ...

i decided to whip up some fun doily business cards for the utah bloggers meet and greet last week!

i used my new doily nesting die cut from lifestyle crafts* to cut out the perfect size doilies for my business cards using kraft paper.  

the stamp i made for my business cards for alt came in handy, because i can stamp my information on anything!  so, it was fun to be able use the doilies for cards, plus it was part of the theme of the evening, so that was a bonus!

i also was able to use the lifestyle crafts antique doily die* to dress up my packaging for some armelle jewelry items i gave away at the event!

 i have always loved to use doilies to dress up a package, so it was fun to be able to create some doilies in any color i want!

stay tuned for pictures of the meet and greet!  it was such a fun evening!

*as always, you can receive 20% off you entire purchase from lifestyle crafts by using code ARMELLE at checkout!

{all photos by me}

kale chips ...

kale chips are all the rage right now!

and, i have to say, i am on board.  i am a huge fan of kale!  i love to eat it in soup, sauté it with veggies, put it in green smoothies, and put it in my morning omelette.  it's a favorite leafy green!

kale chips are surprisingly good, and my kids even enjoy them!  it's fun to have that nice crunch, and have it be an extremely healthy vegetable!  win, win!

check out a great recipe for kale chips on my post over on the zupas blog today.  click here.

{photo by me}

{utah} blogger meet + greet tonight ...

i hope to see you at the meet and greet tonight at soel boutique!!

please stop by and say hi!  i'd love to meet you!

{utah} blogger meet + greet

wednesday february 22 6:30-8:00 p.m.

at soel boutique 

4801 north university ave

provo, utah

come mingle with other bloggers and other social media lovers like you!

♥ sponsored by ♥
becky kimball * soel * see jane blog * milkglass and honey *
elsa bags * armelle * freshly picked * cotton & curls
modern palm * annily green * fifth and hazel * sycamore street press
zupas * {collected} * gatehouse no.1 * heirloom restaurant group
mer mag * the Alison show * the house of Smith's * Studio 5

image by: milkglass and honey

izze sparkling juice valentine ...

when i woke up this fine valentine's day, i was going through my mental checklist of things to gather before bringing kids to pre-school and i realized i had totally forgotten to put together a valentine for their teachers.

luckily, i am a hoarder of all sorts of things, so i had a few things on hand to choose from.

i am not a huge fan of soda, but on occasion i like to indulge in a fun izze sparkling juice.  so, i pulled some from the stash, and grabbed a red and white stripy straw from the stash as well.

i always have doilies on hand, so i placed one on the front.  and, did a quick print out that says "You add such a SPARKLE to our classroom!"

this is a fun valentine gift, or it would also make a great teacher gift any day of the year!

i cut out the text on kraft paper with the nesting eyelet circle die cut from lifestyle crafts.  then, i added a little kraft paper party flag insert on the stripy straw as well as a pink nesting heart, and tied the straw on with some bakers twine.  (as always, for a 20% discount of your entire purchase to lifestyle crafts, type ARMELLE at checkout!)

it didn't take me long to make, but i thought it turned out fun, especially for last minute!

hope you are enjoying your valentines day!

{all photos by me}

sweet+ salty treats ...

hello lovlies!  how is your valentine's day?!  i hope it is going well, and you are celebrating with the ones you love!  i wanted to pop in to share a fun little treat with you!

my friend jane, of see jane blog made some yummy pretzel treats during christmas, and i have always wanted to try them.

for some reason when i went to buy the ingredients, i thought that she used rolos to make them (she used chocolate kisses).  but, it was a happy accident because the caramel addition made it extra sinful!

they are just about the simplest treat to make!  and, are super cute!

you can make them using chocolate and caramel rolos, or chocolate kisses!  either way, they are tasty!

head on over to jane's blog for the full how-to!  click here.

{all photos by me}

marshmallow pops + free tag download ...

my kids and i made these fun marshmallow pops the other day, and they really couldn't be more simple to make!  i saw some marshmallow pops when i was browsing the valentine section at target, and figured they would be very easy to make at home.

i came across some jumbo campfire brand marshmallows at wal-mart, so we thought the giant size would be perfect for this.

all you need is:

marshmallows- wal-mart

cookie pop sticks- wal-mart

melting chocolate- white or regular.  (i like to use almond bark)

sprinkles

cellophane bags

twine

tag

just melt your chocolate, place the stick in the top.  dip into chocolate, then dip/sprinkle with the sprinkles.  let the chocolate set, then you are good to go!

i put them in cellophane bags, and tied them up with bakers twine and a fun made with love tag.

for the free download of the "made with love" tag, click here.

they really were so proud of their creations, and even more happy to share them with their cousins!

have fun sharing the love!

{all photos by me}

utah blogger meet + greet ...

i am excited to announce a very fun event coming up here in utah on february 22nd!

come one, come all!

bloggers can meet bloggers; bloggers can meet their readers... the best of both worlds, really.

and, lucky for everyone... soel boutique is offering 20% off one item during the event + there will be giving door prizes to the first 50 guests + we will have giveaways all evening + refreshing goodies + drinks + a photo booth + a free make 'n take! {you can learn how to make yarn balls from elsa bags!} + it's the perfect reason to enjoy an evening out to mingle!

head on over to all these sites to check out the goodness that will be there! {happy clicking!}

♥ sponsored by ♥
becky kimball * soel * see jane blog * milkglass and honey *
elsa bags * armelle * freshly picked * cotton & curls
modern palm * annily green * fifth and hazel * sycamore street press
zupas * {collected} * gatehouse no.1 * heirloom restaurant group
mer mag * the Alison show * the house of Smith's * Studio 5

this is next week! i hope to see you + i'd be tickled pink if you could help us spread the news!

so, mark your calendars!  you won't want to miss this!  hope to see you there!

♥ we will also be collecting donations for a sweet momma, kelly during the meet 'n greet. kelly is the best esthetician and a genuine friend to many of the bloggers in this area who had a major tragedy hit her life in december. if everyone can contribute just a little... together, we can make a big difference. you can read her story here.

{image created by milk glass and honey}

pocky stick valentines + download ...

i just put together some fun valentine goodies for my almost five year old, ezra's pre-school class.  he loves pocky sticks that you can find at most asian markets.

they come in their own little cute red box, that i thought would be perfect for valentine's day.

i designed a little note that says, "Valentine, I'll STICK with you!"

i cut them out using the darling mini valentine die from lifestyle crafts!  it fit perfectly on the box, and really helped make them look cute!

i used regular white card stock for the note inside, and kraft paper card stock for the outside heart fold over.

if you are in need of a last minute valentine, i made the little valentine note printable available to download for free.  just click here.

supplies you will need
pocky sticks - available at asian markets.  i found mine at wal-mart in the asain section for 98 cents each.  i have also spotted them at target
kraft paper
white card stock
printer

you can still make these with out having the die cut, just attached the little note to the box, and you are set!
as always, you can receive 20% off your entire purchase from lifestyle crafts if you type ARMELLE at checkout!

click here for the free valentine note download.
**please let me know if you are not able to pull up the download to print

happy valentines day!

{all photos by me}

treasure valentines + download...

my little two year old norah is in pre-school this year.  so, we decided to create a little valentine goodie for her little classmates.

she loves anything to do with pirates, so we decided to do a treasure valentine with a map, gold chocolate coins, and a treasure box.

i designed a little "map" to go with her treasure that says, "Dear Valentine, Your Friendship is a Treasure."

it was a lot of fun for me to put them together, because, let's be honest...  they are two, they just want the chocolate, right?!

so, if you are in need of a last minute valentine.  this is your lucky day!  i have the free treasure map download for you right here.  and, here are some details about the rest.

supplies
chocolate coins- found at winco foods, or party stores
wooden treasure boxes- michaels craft store, $1 each.  (you could also just skip this and put the coins in clear cellophane bags with the map attached
kraft paper-  to print the maps on
twine

happy valentines day!

to download the free treasure map pdf file*, click here.

*please let me know if you have any trouble downloading the file.

roasted butternut squash and pomegranate salad ...

i love to eat salad!  it makes for a nice easy lunch, and you can create endless combinations.

for lunch recently i pair roasted butternut squash with pomegranates, toasted hazelnuts, and gorgonzola cheese dressing with champagne vinaigrette on a bed of arugula.  it was a flavor explosion and, it is packed with nutrients!

see the full recipe and details on how to make this salad over on my zupas post this week!  click here.

it just may be the last dish on your table for a fancy valentine's day dinner.

{photo by me}

new DIY business cards ...

so, last month i was able to attend altitude design summit (alt!) again, and it was such a blast!

i made the mistake last year of showing up with a sub-par business card, and i knew i had to step it up a bit this year.

i didn't have a lot of time or funds to hire someone to design my card, so i decided to go the DIY route.  i was hoping other bloggers and DIY types would appreciate the effort.

i first designed a custom stamp for the cards, i got the stamp idea from melissa of ISLY's cute cards last year.

i liked the stamp idea, because you could do several colors, and stamp on a variety of surfaces.  i stamped my logo and information onto lifestyle crafts mini cards.  i love how they are already cut to size and they are thick cotton-based high quality paper.

for the back of the cards, i wanted some texture and some fun, so i used the lifestyle crafts L letterpress with the wintertide polka dot plates, and hand rolled the back of the card with hot pink letter-pressed polka dots.  (loving polka dots!)

i couldn't decide on a color, so i ended up doing three!  a turquoise with pink polka dots on the back.  a gold with pink polka dots on the back, and a hot pink with gold letter-pressed polka dots on the back.

now for the fun part!

i decided i wanted to hand out a few goodies to my friends at alt.  so, i placed my business cards in a small glassine bag, and put a few of my favorite candies inside with a sticker attached that had my QR code.
a QR code is a label you can scan with a smartphone and it will bring up a website.  so, when you scanned my stickers they brought up my blog.

i attached the QR code stickers to some of my favorite asian candies, hi-chews and guava candies, along with a tiny pack of chicklet gum.

i stuffed it all into the glassine bag, and sealed it with some japanese masking tape.  and, viola!
it was fun to make, and hand out the little goodies with my business card!  hopefully everyone i met along the way liked them! (i was up way to late finishing them up, and i am not a night person, ha!)

so, there you have it!  some fun DIY business cards!

{all photos by me}

meat + cheese board ...

there is something simple and elegant about a nice meat, fruit and cheese board.  It can be arranged in no time, but the presentation is a huge wow factor!

there isn’t much rhyme or reason to putting one together either.  i like to put out a few of favorite cheese selections, some sliced dried meat, fruit, olives, and crackers.  but, really you can do a number of combinations.

with the super bowl coming up this sunday, a nice spread like this may just be the winning ticket at your party!

for my cheese board I used:

castelvetrano olives
carr table crackers
dried dates
gruyere cheese
dried sliced salami
cambozola cheese (it's like a mix of brie and blue cheese, love!)
green grapes
cutie clementine oranges

it also makes for a great snack or a fun lunch!

see more on my zupas post here.

{photo by me, caroline drake}

shapes quiet book page ...

i mentioned a while back that some friends and i got together to make quiet books.  we each made twenty of one page, then we swapped pages to make a complete book of different pages!  we got together in december and finally swapped pages!  it was a huge project that we started way back in march of last year, so it was fun to finally see it all come together!

i am still working on putting the binding on my pages, so i will share all of the pages soon, but today i wanted to share with you the page i made.

i did a basic shapes page.  i am really happy with how it turned out!  i had a lot of time to kill in the car on the way to california last fall, so i decided to hand embroider the shapes onto the page.  wow, did i underestimate how long that would take.  twenty four hours later in the car, i still didn't finish.  but, oh well.  it's pretty cute, right?

i used my die cute machine from lifestyle crafts and cut out the basic shapes out of wool blend felt (it only works with thicker felt)

i can't wait to show you the rest of the book!  everyone really did some amazing work!

and, i can't wait to get it finished so my kids can actually use it!   that is, if i let them, wink!