Desiree at play!: Tiaras, strawberries and pretty teeth

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted... Yikes! I have been really busy lately. My hours were reduced at my day job so I work 3 weeks then have a week off. The first week I spent camping with my dear friend Jennifer and her daughter. It was a girl's trip so my girls came along with my sweet Chloe dog. We had a ton of fun, crazy campfires, floating in the lake, eating so much, and no phones, computers or tv. Very relaxing. We also bring puzzles so we got a few of those finished and I worked on a very small craft project.

I've been thinking of my Stampin' Up! business and how I can make it better. Offering more classes and more opportunities for stamping to my customers. Plus I'd love to have my stamping team expand (now's a great time with the $85 mini kit) and help others have as much fun as I am having! I am looking forward to my next off week do work on lots of craft projects that I have in the works.

Yesterday, Lil turned 18 so I took the afternoon off and we had a great day. This photo isn't the best (I forgot my camera so all the photos for the day were taken on Em's cell phone). She had an eye appointment so we ordered new glasses. We went out to lunch, I paid for her first tattoo (small Leo sign on the back of her neck), we went to the movies (GI Joe), a feasted on a fruit tart for dessert. She was a happy girl! Saturday evening we are having a BBQ for a couple friends to continue the celebration and I've asked her best friend to take her to one of those under 21 clubs in Portland. She doesn't know about that part yet. Gotta keep her guessing!

I made the BBQ invitations using the faux silk technique and a "hippie" look that Lil wanted. I love how colorful they are. First I swiped Summer Sun, Bermuda Bay, Dusty Durango and Old Olive horizontally along a piece of glossy white with a sponge. Then I used the same colors to stamp on white tissue paper using the Wanted and A Beautiful Thing stamp sets. This is the first time I've tried the faux silk technique and I love it! Check out the tutorial on SCS. Other cardstock was Basic Black and Summer Sun. I used Really Retro for the words and a black brad and three eyelets as embellishments.

Not too long ago I made this super cute basket filled with strawberries. The supplies are all Stampin' Up! but the templates are from Papertrey (Lauren Meader) and DigiChicks (Kelleigh Ratzlaff). Very easy to put together. You can't see the diagonal scoring all over to give it more of a basket texture. The basket is made out of Kraft cardstock with Real Red grosgrain ribbon and small gold brads. I used the small basket template which probably holds about 4 strawberries. I used the Oval All stamp set and oval punch plus oval scalloped punch. The strawberries are Real Red and Certainly Celery. I used a background punch in Versamark to give the berries a little texture. The leaves are sponged with Always Artichoke and tied with a bit of embroidery floss. The strawberries are great for tucking a little treat inside, like those awesome strawberry candies. You know the ones!!!