Don’t give up!

I might be just a little bit stubborn… Just a teeny, tiny bit.  It’s something of a family trait.  I have vivid memories of my grandmother on my dad’s side doing jigsaw puzzles with us.  It was our tradition to set one up on a card table at Christmas time, and as you passed by you’d stop and stare and fill in a piece or two.  My grandmother would find a piece that “fit” and then work until she got it into place.  My dad would say “Mom, that doesn’t go there” but she was bound and determined that it did and there was no telling her otherwise.

I’m not THAT stubborn, of course.  I work very hard at not beating my head against the wall, at taking lemons and making lemonade, at going with the flow.  But every now and then I come up against something I’m not willing to relinquish.  Sadly enough, it usually involves something petty, like trying to find my scallop border punch.  I know it’s there!  It has to be there!!  But I have looked for weeks and I can’t find it, so last night I ordered a new one.  It’s not quitting, it’s being realistic. 🙂

Cheryl made these and you’ll never guess what she put inside:

Fancy Favor Chocolate Valentines

  • Eat Chocolate stamp set
  • Whisper White and Pretty in Pink card stock
  • Designer Series Paper patterns pack
  • Real Red and Chocolate Chip Classic ink pads
  • Big Shot and Fancy Favor die
  • Decorative Label XL punch; corner rounder
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals, Pearl Jewels, and Crystal Effects
  • Retired Chocolate Chip stitched ribbon (substitute Espresso Striped or solid grosgrain)

Don’t you love the shine from the Crystal Effects?  It takes a while to dry here in our humid climate so I always finish all assembly completely before I apply it.  Once I’ve Crystal-Effected my project, I set it aside overnight to dry.

Ah, and now you’ve figured it out.  That long-winded story about my grandmother is really just an excuse to eat chocolate, isn’t it?  And yes, for all of you Weight Watchers out there, I do track those points!

Chocolate, specifically Hershey Drops

Enough pink and red for a bit…how about some Chocolate?

Eat Chocolate

  • Eat Chocolate stamp set
  • Chocolate Chip Classic ink pad; Marina Mist and Pear Pizazz Stampin’ Write markers
  • Whisper White, Marina Mist and Chocolate Chip card stock
  • Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper
  • Marina Mist 5/8 inch grosgrain ribbon
  • Scallop trim border, 1 3/4 inch circle and 2 3/8 inc scallop circle punches
  • Crop-a-dile, Sponge Dauber, Sticky Strip and Crystal Effects
  • Hershey’s Drops

Oh, Becky Roberts, did you have to introduce me to Hershey Drops?   I didn’t need to know about them, but I saw your post and then found these little demons at Costco!  You know what that means – not one package, not two packages, but an abundance of King Size packages!  Can’t you just taste them?  So shiny, so smooth, so…Chocolate!!

Eat Chocolate

We used these at the Maui Stamper team meeting on Tuesday night, so some of those packages are already out of my house.  Chocolate calls my name so loudly!

{FULL DISCLOSURE:  I am a Weight Watchers® Leader, and as such I feel an obligation to report that this 2.1 oz King Size package has a Points Plus value of 9!}

Here are a few construction hints:

  • Make your band a little smaller than your package when it’s a “squishy” package
  • Use Sticky Strip to provide a secure hold on the band
  • A Sponge Dauber works best when applying ink to a bold image like the chocolate
  • Assemble the entire project, then apply the Crystal Effects and set everything aside to dry

Speaking of our Maui Stamper team meeting, we had a great time doing Sale-a-bration and Occasions Mini shoe-box swaps.  You’ll be seeing a lot of great projects in the next few days as we were in a stampin’ frenzy!