Easter & Spring Control Freaks Blog Tour

Welcome... I'm so excited to be participating in my first Control Freaks Blog Tour!  What a fabulous group of stampers to hop with!  You've probably arrived here from Connie Babbert's blog.  She is so creative!

For my first project, I took a look at the Good as Gold card kit, free with a $50 purchase during Sale-a-bration.  It creates 8 festive cards with lined envelopes.  Often with kits and freebies, we love the little project it was designed to make, but what else can we do with it?  As an alternative, you could create this adorable little birdhouse using the Mini Milk Carton die, perfect for filling with little goodies as a favor at the Easter dinner table.

This little carton gets almost all its supplies from the Good As Gold card kit, except the bird punch-out, window sheet, and clothes pin.  The clothes pin is removable for easy access to the candy.  ;)

I got to thinking about a table center for Easter dinner, and all this gold led me to golden eggs.  I blew the yokes out of three medium eggs, covered them with gold glitter, and nestled them in a little bird's nest.  I love crafting with egg shells, because the projects will last a long time (if the kitten doesn't get to them, of course).  I also created this for Mix-Ability challenge #40, Stick It To Me, Darling!

A (not-so-funny) kitty story... even after cleaning up after the glittering, the photo session left a puddle of glitter on the table. Before I could clean it, two kitties were rolling and wrestling through the puddle, and now my entire house is on the gold trend.  Sigh.  Definitely make sure you shake off any excess glitter after drying, before using as a center piece!

Paper: Crisp Cantaloupe, Sahara Sand, Window sheet from Quatrefancy DSP; Accessories: Good as Gold kit, Metallic mini clothespins, Gold Stampin' Glitter, Bird Builder punch, 1" Circle punch, Argyle EF, Adorning Accents edgelits, Mini Milk Carton die, Big Shot, Decoupage glue, Dimensionals.

Fast forward to spring flowers.  We are still pretty much buried in snow here, but one can dream.

This is a fun Mother's Day card with the sentiment reserved for the inside.  Up to now, I hadn't opened the Simply Pressed Clay.  :o   It is so soft and fun to play with, as well as pliable.  I rolled out a thin layer with a rolling pin and let it dry.  After it firmed up for about an hour, I stamped the backside and let it dry overnight.  After trimming, I colored the vases with both an aquapainter and a sponge.  Awe-some!  The shelf brace was created by trimming the 4-petal shape from the Itty Bitty punch pack.

Stamps: Vivid Vases, Woodgrain BG; Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Modern Medley DSP; Ink: Pool Party, Real Red, Strawberry Slush, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant, Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar, Black Stazon; Accessories: Simply Pressed Clay, White baker's twine, Itty Bitty punch pack, Aquapainter, Sponges.

Now bunny hop over to Patty Bennett's blog to check out the goodies she has made.  Thanks for stopping by!