Who Knew Squares Were So Fun

Another Saturday post - I know, who knew.  Quick, look out your window and you might catch that pig flying by!  Yesterday I was working on some submission ideas.  I had Pandora going in the background when I looked over and saw the album artwork.  I was immediately inspired to create a card.  Check out this totally groovy album cover.

Isn't that awesome?  So much inspiration to be found in this beauty, but what I really wanted to do was recreate those squares.  So, I set to work on making a card that I thought I was gonna submit until I realized that it had to be mostly stamped.  Well, stink bomb.  Then I remembered that I still had papers sitting around for the last Moxie Fab World challenge I had planned to enter.  Using the inspiration from above, I came up with this fun and funky card (just like the music I was listening to).

I hated to add hearts to this knowing that Valentine's Day is almost here and everybody is using hearts, but I just couldn't help it - they're so cute.  I REALLY like this card, do you?  I was trying to remember what country it is that uses "love" to address people.  Anyway, this is for the Pretty Pastels Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week in the Moxie Fab World.

 On another note, today is my son's 8th birthday.  I hate how fast he is growing since he is my only boy, but he has matured so much and I'm really proud of him.  We are going to go swimming at the pool (which has waterslides) and eat cheesecake.  I made a yogurt cheese cheesecake which comes out to only 2 WW pts per slice.  I can't wait to try it.  Alright friends, hope you are having a great weekend!

Sweet Silhouettes (OTWC #42)

Well, I can honestly say TGIF!!!  I have had one of THOSE weeks where you have intentions of getting things done, but all kinds of other things come up that prevent that from happening.  It started on Monday (oh, and Monday held up to its reputation) when I had an eye appointment.  Let me just tell you that I abhor the eye Dr.  I don't know why, but I get so nervous before I go that I feel like I'm gonna puke.  Anyone else like that?  And they always make me wait FOREVER in that tiny little room where I can't see a thing.  I muscled my way through it and was apparently so glad to get out of there that I didn't realize I was speeding.  Yeah, you guessed it - I got a darn speeding ticket!  I have never gotten a ticket if that tells you anything.  By the time I got home, I was so worked up, I had to just cry it out for a while.  Thank God for every new day and starting over!

So, I've gotten through the week and here we are at another Off The Wall Craftiness challenge.  This week is plain and simple; use black and white.  Good, a no-brainer kinda color combo for a rough week.  This week's sponsor is Third Coast Stamps.  Check out Kim's photo inspiration:

To tie in with the photo's elements, I used Kim's latest stamp release "Simply Silhouettes".  And, if you haven't picked up the latest Paper Crafts's issue, Stamp It! Techniques, you simply must because that thing is chock full of amazing techniques.  I have used the technique found on page 11 to create my brooch.  I was also excited to see that the Moxie Fab World has just launched a new challenge to use cameos.

I tried to make it look somewhat aged.  I did not have the ultra thick embossing powder, so it didn't crack as much as I would've liked.  Also, I must've accidentally dumped some white embossing powder into my clear at one point, which is why there are white speckles on her head.  Although, I kinda think it adds to the aged look a bit.  I have to say that I own the ultra fine black powder and I HATE it!  That stuff just clumps together and sticks to my paper everywhere but where I want it to.  Won't be buying that again. So glad you stopped by.  I'm really excited to see what you guys can do with black and white.  Have a great weekend!

Purple Nurple (PDCC #66)

Hooray, it's Color Splash time!  This has become one of the favorite challenges at The Play Date Cafe!  Any guesses on what this week's color is?  Cheater, I saw you looking at the title of my post.  Yes, it is PURPLE; a very delicate and lavender-like shade.  For those of you new to color splash, you are to use black and white with a splash of purple on your project.  Check out this fantastic inspirational photo too:

Did you know that you can heat emboss on clothespins?  Yeppers, ya sure can.  My project for this week:

I began by painting the clothespin white.  Then I rubbed the face of it real good with a dryer sheet (to prevent extra embossing powder from sticking).  Stamp with watermark ink and emboss in black.  (HINT: if some powder gets embossed where you don't want it, scrape it off using an xacto knife)  I finished it out with some ribbon, and a few butterflies.  I have several of these that I've turned into magnets to hold my children's artwork on my fridge.  The sky is the limit - be creative with yours.  Be sure to check out the rest of the design team's inspiration too.

Julie Murray

Sarah Anderson

Ruby Mcguire

Savannah O' Gwynn

Andrea Ewen

Fiona Shultz

Michele Gross

Tracey Kuzniak

Libby Hickson

Jinny Newlin

Colleen Dietrich

I'm Here.

Hey guys.  So, after coming off of a week full of posts, you all probably expected to see some good stuff here this week.  Sorry I've been slacking.  I've been busily creating cards for the latest PC pub call and finishing up DT projects.  That combined with the surprises in life have left you guys inspirationaless (that's a word, right?)  Please be sure to stop by on Thursday for the newest color inspiration at the Play Date Cafe.  It's a good one, I promise.  Happy hump day!

Cabin Fever!!!

Do you have it?  I sure do.  You know how I know?  Because all of a sudden I have gotten the urge to change around all of the rooms in my house.  I get done with one room and then I think about what else I can do in my house to change it up.  Yeah, I love change, but this is evidence of madness.  When you are stuck inside for weeks at a time (trying not to freeze your butt off), things get a little blah.  And I love how a rearranged room feels, it's like a brand new space!  A girl's gotta do what she can to stay sane, right?

Another thing that keeps me sane is working on cards and you all know that this week I'm tackling the challenges over at Moxie Fab World.  So, I've got two pretties to share with you today.  The first is for the Bright & Bold Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week.  These colors are my favorites:

For my first attempt at this combo (I'm hoping to do one more), I wanted to try and think of something outside the box.  So, I reached for my paints.  I created a heart mask and then swiped strokes of orange and pink around it in an outward motion so it kinda looked like a sunburst.  Here's how it came out:

I then masked the outside of the heart and stamped varying "love" sentiments on the inside, using orange to highlight one.  I think it kinda looks like a pretty graffiti card, right?

The second card is for the Neutrals Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week.

I love that smoky blue.  Since I've been having so much fun with my mushroom set from Clear & Simple Stamps, I decided to paper piece a shroom for this card.  Check it:

I popped the cap off that shroom of the paper with a foam dot to add a bit of 3D fun to it.  I masked off a square and the shroom and then stamped that text (which is a bunch of different mushroom names).  Let me tell you that cutting out those circles took a bit of dedication, those small ones are TINY!  I just love how that mushroom looks popped off the page.  And, I think I might be really getting into paper piecing!  Alrighty, that's it for my happy Saturday post.  Hope you have been thinking about how you can use those colors from both the Play Date Cafe and Off The Wall Craftiness this week!  Thanks for stopping by.

Celebrate Grace (OTWC #41)

TGIF!!!!!  And since it's Friday, that means it's time for another Off The Wall Craftiness challenge.  Hands down, this is my favorite color combo so far.  In fact, I used to have my own home business and these colors were in my logo (with a splash of lime green) - just awesome.  I LOVE all of the photo inspiration that Kim has given us as well.  If I could redo my wedding, I would soooooo use these colors - maybe I can force them on my girls when they get married - 20+ years from now...riiiiiiiigggghhht!  Ok, so I'll make do with making cards with them.

This week's sponsor, Inspired Stamps, holds a special place in my heart.  The owner, Antoinette started out selling Close To My Heart stamps and actually came and did a show at my home.  She is such a wonderful, Christian lady!  Since then she has ventured out onto her own and started her own stamp line.  Many of her stamps focus on Scripture.  I love that!  She was kind enough to send us this beautiful rose set to work with and a few other stamps.

To create those roses, I started by stamping the outline in orange on the card.  Then, I stamped a rose on a separate piece of white cardstock and very carefully cut out the rose leaving a hole.  I then put that piece over the top of the roses on my card to mask off the outside of it and stamped the polka dots.  The big rose is paper pieced using three different papers.  The sentiments are rub-ons from Technique Tuesday.  I thought this card would be great for someone who just got saved or baptized, or just as an encouragement card.

Check this out:

One of the sets she sent contained several sentiments for the back of your handmade cards including this one.  Isn't that fun?  Great stuff I tell ya!  I hope that you'll give this week's colors a try - I'd love to see what you can come up with.  Just as a reminder, you can earn two chances to be entered into the drawing by using Wilson Designs stamps on your project.  That's 2 for every Wilson Designs project you enter!  Make sure you leave Kim a comment for each entry that uses Wilson Designs stamps!  Now, go link up your cards!!!

Hey Fungi (PDCC #65)

Yo - happy Thursday!  Hooray for my second week at The Play Date Cafe!  This week's colors are super fab and ultra modern.  I am in love with them and am strongly considering redecorating one of my rooms in these colors (ok, maybe not since hubs prob won't go for it, but I can dream).  We also have the awesome sponsor, Cosmo Cricket this week.  Here are the colors:

This week's card is a special one.  If you follow my blog, you know that the past year and a half have been a tough one for us financially.  I am overly ecstatic to tell you that my husband has gotten a new job that will more than cover our bills.  What a HUGE answer to prayer and a HUGE burden lifted off of my shoulders.  I am SO PROUD of him.  He worked for more than a year at a job that just "got us by" until the next best thing came along.  The poor guy was miserable, but he knew he had to do what it took to support us.  So, I made this card for him to let him know how much I appreciate all of his hard work and dedication to his family.  Don't tell anyone, but I think I got a great catch! ;)

Ok, the details.  The mushroom and sentiment are a brand new stamp set from Clear & Simple stamps.  The dots and text are from Technique Tuesday.  The frame and grid are from PTI.  I used my watercolor pencils to color the mushroom - I have always been in love with colored pencils, so I have a hard time justifying the Copic thing when I can accomplish great things with my pencils.  Isn't this so much fun?  Loving the shrooms!  I hope you'll play along this week at The Play Date Cafe.  I can't wait to see what you come up with.  If you need some inspiration, be sure to visit the other designer's blogs as well:

Julie Ranae 

Savannah O'Gwynn 

Ruby2Shoes 

Andrea Ewen

Fiona Schultz

Jaclyn Miller

Jinny Newlin

Libby Hickson

Michele Gross

TRacey Kuzniak

Colleen Dietrich

Before I go, I wanted to let you know that my 1-yr bloggaversary is quickly approaching. (March 2)  Since I love you all so much and I think you enjoy visiting, I thought it would be fun to see if we can reach 100 followers by then.  I think I see some blog candy in my future...thanks for visiting today.

Jewely Jewel Tones

Me again.  I'm back today with another Moxie Fab World color challenge.  Ok, let's get the tongue twister out of the way, this is for the Jewel Tones Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week in the Moxie Fab World (he, he)  I'm also entering this into this week's Create:blog challenge to use butterflies.  The colors look something like this.

I just have to vent for a second.  When I went to the scrapbook store, I took a print-out of the colors with me that included the names of the colors I was looking for.  Of course, they didn't have the blue in this, so I had to go by my print-out to try and match it.  Well, when I got home and looked at it on my computer screen, the color I had picked looked nothing like the swatch.  Soooo, all that to say that my blue is a little bit off - frustrates the poop out of me, but I'll deal.  Ok, venting done.  So, here's what I came up with.

I saw a tutorial on how to make this glittery butterfly somewhere, but wouldn't you know that when I went back to look for it, I couldn't find it.  I hate not giving credit where it's due, so if anyone knows where this was from, let me know.  To create it, I stamped black staz-on onto a transparency sheet.  I then flipped it over and used glossy accents to add the glitter on the back side.  I added the jewels and the pins for the antennas.  The picture doesn't do the glittery goodness justice.    The butterfly and sentiment are from the Healing Wings set by Skipping Stones Designs.  Whaddya think?  I can't decide if I like this one or not.  I had a bit of trouble with this batch of colors.  Ok, off to work on the rest of the color challenges AND the new pub call for Stamp It!  Yea!  I {heart} stamping (but you already knew that). :)

A Leftover

Hey guys.  Just a real quick post today as I'm not sure what today holds and don't know if I'll have a chance to sit down and craft or not.  When I was preparing for the Wilson Designs release, this card was one that didn't quite make the cut...but that's good for you because now you get to see one more fantastic way to use this amazing set!  Check it:

 

The frame is embossed in silver and the chair is embossed in black.  I colored in the little heart with a red marker.  The sentiment is actually a rub-on from Technique Tuesday that is NOT included in the Simply Silhouettes set.  I cut out the center of the frame using an xacto knife.  As you can see in the photo below, the chair is actually on the inside of the card.

One more thing, today is the release of the newest Paper Crafts publication Stamp It! techniques. 

I was blessed enough to have four projects featured in this mag. (though I still haven't received my copy, so I'm not sure what they look like or what page they're on)  Be sure to check it out because there are lots of tutorials on how to mask, emboss, paper piece and more.  I really enjoyed submitting for this issue.

That's all for now.  It is actually raining here today which makes me soooooo happy because I'm hoping it will melt all of the yucky snow.  Take care and sending blessings your way.

Positively Pink

Well, I made it through the funerals yesterday.  It was definitely emotionally draining.  Once the day was over, I just wanted to go to bed.  But, both were perfect celebrations of life.  I have to share the coolest thing that our young 23-year old friend did.  If you read my previous post, you saw that she had a 2 month old son that she left behind.  While she was pregnant, she started a scrapbook for him.  On the very first page, she filled it with a special note to her unborn child.  Throughout the book, she sprinkled bits of herself into several more notes to him.  She also devoted several pages to monthly pictures of her belly as it grew.  She probably had 8 pages already done before she passed.  Friends, I couldn't hold back the tears once I saw this.  This whole time the one thing that has bothered me most is that that little boy won't have a chance to know his mother, but oh, what a special gift she has left behind for him to cherish over the years.  This whole week I have pondered that she went to bed one night and never woke up.  That could easily happen to any of us...our lives could slip away at any moment.  It really made me realize that I need to cherish each and every moment I have been given.  And, I had better make the most of the life I have instead of wasting it away on things that just don't matter.  I have made a point to hug and kiss every one of my family members this week before bed and before they leave the house, knowing it could very well be the last moments I spend with them.  Somber, I know, but reality.  I would encourage you to do the same.

So, now that I've brought you all down, how about some cheering up with a bright card?  Over the weekend, I went out and tried to buy all of the matching Bazzill cardstock for the color challenges going on over at The Moxie Fab World.  Turns out the scrapbook store doesn't carry all of them - Boo!  I had to make a few substitutions.  I started with the Monochromatics Color Challenge for "Color Inspiration for Card Makers" (whew, that's a mouthful).  The colors looked like this:

How very Valentine's-y, right?

I question whether or not my bubblegum cardstock was right, although it said bubblegum on it and it was Bazzill Basics, so not sure why it is so much darker than the swatch, but here is my card:

Wee Memories is also holding a Scrappy Saturday challenge to use ribbon, so I thought it would be fun to use ribbon as the frosting on my cupcake.  There are some Clear & Simple stamps thrown in here, a bit of Technique Tuesday, and I topped it all off with that pearl and floss tied in a knot.  Now, go hug your families and tell them just how much you love them! ;)

Purdy Garland

Hi, can you believe it, a Saturday post?  I wanted to squeeze in an entry for this week's Tuesday Trigger over at the Moxie Fab World.  I love the inspirational photo for this week.  It is so bright and cheery.  Don't ya think?

I always have trouble playing this challenge because I usually put it off until Sundays to work on and then don't get to it because our Sundays are soooo busy with our newly launched Church.  No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to be creative (or awake for that matter) on a Sunday.  Anyway, here's the card.

Pretty obvious which part inspired me. :)  I began by sketching out a line for my garland and then I used individual dots from my Passion for Polka set from Technique Tuesday to create it.  The little chair is from the newly released set Simply Silhouettes by Wilson Designs.  It is my favorite image from the set.

I am totally dreading tomorrow.  We have had a lot of tragedy this past week.  Firstly, a good friend of ours lost her mom.  Then, a 23 year old friend from our Church launch team passed away suddenly.  They still don't know what happened.  She left behind a 2 month old baby.  It just breaks my heart.  Both funerals are tomorrow.  I don't do well with funerals.  I told my hubs that when I die, there is to be no sadness.  It needs to be fun, and a celebration of life because I will be so happy to be in Jesus' arms!  Both of these people are so blessed to be chatting it up with God right now.

That's it for tonight.  Btw, I see our little blog family is growing.  I wanted to say welcome to those new to my blog and thank you for following.  I hope you find lots of inspiration here!  Have a great weekend.

Mister Mooooooustache (OTWC #41)

It's time for this week's Off The Wall Craftiness inspiration.  Straight to the photo we go.

Are you ready to have fun with this?  A goofy photo calls for some goofiness. So, let's get our goof on by starting with this!

What in the world?   Who IS that stranger?  Oh yeah, it's me...on Christmas day...playing a game that required me to sit there while my sister drew a fake mustache and glasses on me with make-up.  Aren't those 1980's glasses totally rad.  How about my fumanchu mustache?  Hey, we got her back.  She had to pretend she was animals by making the sounds of the animals we called out.  Hi-lar-i-ous!!!  We sure did have a fun time together. 

Anyway, whew, got a bit sidetracked there.  On to my projects.  Don't worry, they're goofy too.  My son has a birthday coming up, so I thought it would be fun to make him a bookmark to put on top of his presents.

I shall call him bookworm and he shall be mine (yeah, that's right, I just quoted "Finding Nemo").  Get it, bookworm - ha, ha. I'm really on a roll today, aren't I?  It's hard to see in the photo, but the rub-on says "the story so far".  I thought that was perfect for a bookmark.  My son will get such a kick out of that goofy mustache (which is from Wilson Designs Simply Silhouettes).  Since the sponsor this week is Sakura, they were lovely enough to send us some pens to try out.  For the caterpillar, I used the glue pen to create that glitter rim around the circles.  I {heart} my glue pen!

But the fun can't stop there now, can it?  I also continued with these similar colors and created this card:

Are you seeing spots?  I know, it's like a crazy measles card.  I used the green gel pen that Sakura sent to doodle that background.  The cool thing about it is that it is somewhat raised up, so this card has texture.  Don't you love that creepy cookie monster without a body looking thingy?  Like I said, goofiness! :)

You  know you want to go try out these colors on your own goofy card, don't you.  It's ok, I won't tell.

My First Play Date Cafe Feature is Here!

If you are looking for the WILSON DESIGNS RELEASE post, please scroll down to the second post for today or click here.

What y'all been up to lately?  I've been fighting with technology AGAIN.  I'm really starting to think that my computer is possessed and has it out for me.  I have spent WAY too much time trying to fix things with it.  Anyway, we fought long and hard, but I finally won and am back.  But, I am sooooo far behind in my blogging and emailing.  I've decided that I've become way too dependent on the Internet.  I know, imagine that. ;)

Well, enough of that.  The super special day I've been waiting for is finally here!  I am officially official at The Play Date Cafe today.  Yippee!  It has been weeks since I got the news and now you finally get a glimpse of just what the amazing new team can do.  And I do mean amazing - we have all been chatting and getting to know each other over the past few weeks and it has been a blast.  Each of the girls has so much personality!  Not to mention they have mad designing skills too.  Check out the colors for my first DT challenge:

So, you wanna see my card?  Of course you do.  Here you go:

I broke out the cricut to cut those hearts and thought it would be fun to add some texture and dimension.  So, I used my glue pen to add glitter to the grey ones, a rub-on for that bottom left one, and some gold embossing on the gold ones.  I topped it off with that button.  The sentiment (which is a bit challenging to read) says Happy Anniversary and is silver embossed onto a transparency sheet.

I must admit that I had a bit of cold feet when making this card.  I really wanted my first project to be stunning - I know, too much pressure on myelf.  But, you guys know how much I love The Play Date Cafe and I wanted it to be great!  So, now that you know the colors, you need to get your ink on and play with them too.  Ready, set, GO!  Oh, and if you need some more inspiration, be sure to visit the other designer's blogs.

Julie Murray
Sarah Anderson
Ruby Mcguire
Savannah O' Gwynn
Andrea Ewen
Fiona Shultz
Michele Gross
Tracey Kuzniak
Libby Hickson
Jinny Newlin
Colleen Dietrich

Wilson Designs Release Day!

 Can I get a Hip Hip Hooray for Release Day?

HIP-HIP-HOORAY!

No more waiting to see the newest stamp set from Wilson Designs.

Why don't you get acquainted with Simply Silhouettes retailing for $12.99.

 

And how about a really fun way to use these images?  You say yeah?  Alrighty then, let's do it.

Say hello to the release day card - HELLO. 

As you can see, I've used one of those frames to create a fun and modern background.  The possibilities are endless.  I'm going to be entering this card into the Gray is the New Black Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.

Now, say hello to the release day project - HOWDY.

Ta-da!  Your very own girly set of nail polishes complete with a complementary (and matching) card!  Confession time - these were actually a gift to my daughter at Christmas that I stole for this project.  I just thought those baby nail polishes were so cute that I had to put them in a bag with a special topper.  Here's the fun part; I used them as inspiration for my color palette.  See, you can use anything for inspiration.  Here's a closer look at that bag topper:

As you can see, I used the cameo image for the background in CTMH indian corn blue and then used the same head image with a different frame for the focal point.  I gave her a little bling in her hair to make it perfect for a young girl.  Now, here's the matching card:

Again, I played off the same color palette and used the cameo for the background.  Since my daughter is turning 7 soon, I made this for her (except the little stinker saw it when I was sitting here writing this post and figured out it was for her, darn).  I used a bit of cork to back the main image.

And one more just for fun:

Do you likey?  Me likey, especially since this falls right into the current trends.  Now, quit lingering around my blog and get to buying your own set over at Wilson Designs.  Don't forget to comment on all of the Design Team blogs for your chance to win your very own Simply Silhouettes stamp set!!

Amy

Kim

Tenia

Wilson Designs New Release: Day #1

So, how's about some cards using the newest set from Wilson Designs?  

Card #1, come on down, you're the first contestant on Wilson Designs sneak peek Day!  (cheering and clapping)

I spy with my little eye a tweet little birdy on those fans.  To create those fans, I first stamped the image randomly on a sheet of white paper, then using my sponge brayer, I added a bit of the same color over the images.  Then, I cut a strip about an inch wide and 10 in. long and began folding it over into a circle.  When I was finished folding, I glued it onto a punched circle.  Add the little buttons/ribbon and you're done!  The colors are from Close To My Heart, all retired, and are true teal, wild flower and tropical blue.

Card #2, you are the next contestant on Wilson Designs sneak peek day - come on down!

With all of the snow and cold we've been having around here, Paris sounds pretty good right about now!

Don't forget to come back tomorrow.  I'll be posting a fun "girly" project and you'll get to see the full set.  Make sure to leave a comment on each of the Design Team blogs for a chance to win.  Also, head on over to the website to see all of the fabulous sets already released.  Check out the gallery while you're there for some amazing inspiration!  Thanks for visiting today!

Amy
Kim
Tenia

Wilson Designs New Release: Sneak Peek

Howdy Ho!  Today is an exciting day; I have been asked to join the Design Team at Wilson Designs.  Yippee!  Thanks Kim!  Lucky me, I get to try out all of the stamps before they are released.  I am really impressed with the quality of these stamps - they make clean crisp images and the stamps stick to my blocks.

Wanna start off with a sneakie peekie of the newest set to be released...just a tiny little image to whet your appetite?  Got any guesses on what this could be?  I'll give you a hint - it's awesome!  Alright, so that's not a hint, but it is awesome and you're gonna love it.

Be sure to stroll around to all of the other DT's blogs and leave comments for a chance to win this release. Then, come back tomorrow for a looksie at a few cards containing images from this set.

Amy

Kim

Tenia

Hippo Love (OTWC #40)

It's time for a magical, breathtaking, out-of-this-world, heartwarming, colorful, amazing (insert your own adjective here) post for this week's Off The Wall Craftiness challenge.  For this week's challenge, the sponsor is The Felt Store.  They were kind enough to send the DT a few samples to try out their product.  Let me begin by saying IT IS AWESOME!!! (more about that later)  Ok, this week's colors are below.

Some of you may remember from this post HERE that I made several little felt critters for my daughters at Christmas.  I used 25 cent felt that I bought from the craft store.  Cheap, yes!  You definitely get what you pay for.  I had a really hard time cutting that stuff and it just looked cheap, i.e. see-through.  When I got the felt from The Felt Store in the mail, I was amazed at the texture of it - but whoa Nellie - once I started cutting into that stuff, I was sold!  It was like buttah (in my best Jersey accent)!  I {heart} it!  You may have guessed by now that I made an encore felt critter.  Here's my project for this week:

Because I know not all of you are familiar with a needle and thread, I wanted to show a box using the felt too.  Seriously, if you don't have a scor-pal yet, GET ONE!!!!  I LOVE making boxes with it.  I believe the new Martha Stewart one allows you to make envelopes too.  For the top of the box, I just used my fiskars cutter to cut a square out of the middle and added a transparency to make that window.  I want to give this hippo to my little nephew for his birthday; I could easily see him carrying it around in his pocket!  I'm open for name suggestions. :)  Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to play along with this week's colors at Off The Wall Craftiness.