Zavian's 2nd Birthday

Last week was my grandson Zav's 2nd birthday - he's CRAZY about basketball - so that's what his party had to be.  His Mom Heidi went all out - from his basketball cake -

To this amazing Candy Buffet -

 and more yummies -

and all the great food - you can see more of her candy creations at http://www.thesweetebuffet.blogspot.com

I created this hybrid birthday card using MDS and then adding the punched basketball - but much to my dismay when I got to the party I was informed the basketball was missing a line :(  Anyway - with the help of a sharpie and a ruler - I added it there - but didn't get another picture.  I like it though -

Here's his gift package (I also had to add a line to this basketball) - oh well -

Here's our adorable birthday boy -

 blowing out his candles!!

Happy birthday sweetie - we LOVE you!!
~Gramma (Maureen)

Easy Basket Tutorial

Today I want to share with you  a cute and easy basket made out of 6x6" DSP - so you can get four of them out of one 12x12" sheet.  Great for Easter place settings or gifts.  Here are the products you'll need to make your baskets.

Take your DSP and score at 2" and 4" then turn sheet 90 degrees and score again at 2" and 4" - so you get a tic-tac-toe type grid - see below.

On the example below I drew lines where you are going to cut - but you do not need to put the lines on - just cut the appropriate fold lines on the two sides as shown.

Then you're going to make a small pen mark 3/4" in from each side on the two top and two bottom side sections when your DSP is placed in front of you as shown below.

 Next you'll fold the two center sections (top and bottom) in toward the center.

and bring your top and bottom side pieces in -

 place your DSP so your pen mark is right along the top of the center piece you folded up, then fold your DSP down as shown - repeat on all three remaining corner sections.  Tape down.

This is how your basket should now look.

 Then embellish as you like -

 Here are two of them with two different designs of DSP. 

Hope you have fun with these - be sure to let me know if you make them and send me a picture - I'll be glad to post on my blog!!
See you soon!!  ~Maureen

Water Color Background

For my technique club this month we did the watercolor background technique - look how pretty this is - and sooooo simple.

Here's the 6x6" technique card with instructions for their technique books.  You should be able to click on it to make it larger and easier to read.  It's such a fun technique in that each one turns out different - just like watercoloring should.

And here's the card we made with the background and SU's adorable tea cup set.  The middle cup is popped up on dimensionals with an added tiny flower and pearl. 

Here's another view of the card that shows the dimension better - see the shadow behind the middle cup.  The bakers twine is the finishing touch.  Love this card!

Hope you liked it too - stop back soon!! ~Maureen

Hostess Gift March

HI all - today I want to share the hostess gift for my March hostesses.  As you know, I've been doing these notebooks in our Stampin' Up! stamp cases as my hostess gifts - so for March this is my design.  I love it - fresh and springy!!

Inside - note pad, post-its and a little pocket for receipts, etc.  Hope they liked it.  Would you like one of your own - contact me now to set up a PARTY for April or May!!

See you soon!  ~Maureen

Last couple SSS gifts this month

Today I want to share the last two Secret Sister gifts - this first one was from Virginia's Secret Sister - an absolutely adorable magnetic message board.

Here's a close up of the flowers and the cute little button magnets.

Finally - here are the beautiful cards that Kathy B received from her not-so-secret sister, Theresa.  The two of them decided they could not commit to SSS for the year, but would exchange cards with each other as time permitted - so nice!!

Thanks for checking out these great gifts.  Stop back soon! ~Maureen

More Adorable SSS gifts

Here are some more of the great items from our talented group of stampers - first is Karen's gift from her Secret Sister - an assortment of cards and gift cards in an adorable box.

Next is Lois's gift - another adorable gift box!

filled with more cards -

 And finally Sandy with her beautiful cards from her Secret Sis -

 And here's a view of the finished insides.

More to come - so stop back soon.  Happy Stamping!!! ~Maureen

Secret Sister gifts -

Today I'm going to share a couple more of our March secret Sister gifts.  First is the one Heidi got - this adorable "You're So Sweet" box filled with her favorite - yummy caramels.  

Next I have a whole bunch of pictures of what Julie got from her secret sis.  It was Julie's birthday and her SU anniversary and here Secret Sis really honored her - here are her cards.

A beautiful journal (the pages look stamped) -

 A cute little box of 3x3" gift cards -

 And finally this glass candy dish filled with candy -

Secret Sis is so fun - I can't wait till our quarterly meetings - just to see what everyone gets.  My downline is sooooo talented.  Fun!!  Stop back soon.  ~Maureen

Memories....

So many of you who follow me know that I LOVE my Grandbabies - and recently I found out that number 7 is on the way - due October 25 - Yes, I'm doing the "Happy" Gramma dance :)  Once a month ( or close to it ) I have a Gramma day with one of my grand-kids.  (Sometimes hubby does Papa days too)  I love those days and I wanted to find a special way for them to remember our times together.  So I came across these great kid's journals at the Dollar store no less, and thought they were just the thing -

Here's what they look like just as they come from the store.  I purchased them a few months ago when I only had six grand-children - but something told me to get seven of them - and I did.

What I am going to do now is decorate them with my grandkids.  So Paisley and I decorated her's last week.  She wanted to do the Build A Bear die - so I let her pick the outfit; the paper, etc.  She also did all the running through the Big Shot and the taping.  I think she did a great job!!

Here is the first story that Kamili added to hers when we had our Gramma day - she drew the picture and dictated while I wrote.  We haven't decorated the cover yet - but she also wants Build a Bear.  I hope these all turn out to be wonderful memory books for them to have and keep.  I know I love them!!

Thanks for stopping by - see you soon!  ~Maureen

More "GREEN" -

Couple more "St Patty's" style - first I want to share the amazing gift I got from my Secret Stamping Sister on March 3 at our meeting - look at this beautiful coffee mug - I saw it sitting there and hoped it was mine - and it WAS!!  I've been drinking my coffee from it ever since.  Not only that but it was filled with wonderful little chocolate mint candy bars - LOVED THEM!!  Thank you SSS.

Also, for St. Patty's I put out this bowl of wonderful Salt Water Taffy - it was all in white and green tones and looked so good on my counter.  I just love "GREEN" it is so fresh and lively of a color. 

Stop by soon as I'll be posting more of our Secret Sister gifts.  ~Maureen

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Happy St. Patty's to all my family and friends!!

No secret to a lot of you - but my maiden name is O'Reilly - so I take St. Patrick's day very seriously :)  By the time you see this post the Corned beef and cabbage will be cooking in the crock pot and the Bailey's will be chilled - my kind of celebration.  What you might not know is I have seven brothers and one sister - and with our last name I really have to remember them this time of year - so here are the cards I made this week just before I popped them in the mail.

Aren't they cute - I love the look of Black with Garden Green - hope they all like them!

Wishing you all a great day filled with rainbows and the luck of the Irish!! See you soon! ~Maureen