Dear Friends,
At this time of year, I wish you a most blessed Easter. I finally finished 2 projects (1 fun, another to commemorate the true spirit of this holiday!) that I wanted to share with you today.

This is a container (I bought the tutorial from Inking Idaho last year!) that holds 4 of the mini milk cartons that use the Sizzix Milk Carton Die from Stampin’ Up. I filled each one (4 colors, 4 different Easter candy treats!) to the top with fun candy, and then decorated the cartons with my Forest Friends stamp set. I wanted to use the Accoutrements stamp set that was available last year (so cute!!) but since it’s retired, I didn’t want to entice anyone with something no longer available. The Forest Friends bunny is adorable, but he should have been punched with something larger than the 3/4″ punch I think — you’re missing the best part — his adorable tail!

Anyway, the container holding the cartons is decorated with the Tasteful Trim XL die — I actually used the “negative” of this die — rather than using the rick-rack trim, I used the piece of paper remaining after removing the rick-rack. It was a bit larger and more “random” (Lyndsey, my daughter, thought that the scallop trim I originally used was “too predictable” and “lacking texture”!!) I stamped the Easter eggs in random pastel inks on pastel card stocks using the Easter Blossom Stamp set. The finishing touch … the luscious Daffodil Delight 1 1/4″ striped grosgrain ribbon. Love this ribbon which is probably why you haven’t seen a whole lot of it — I tend to “hoard”!!

Here are 2 other views. I apologize that the photo quality isn’t fantastic — I took the pictures using my night-time lighting since it took me all day to finish these!

My final project for today is something I’ve had in mind for a while, but making it work wasn’t as easy. I do love how it turned out, even if my son totally missed the point of the card!!

I finally received my lattice die from Stampin’ Up — it was backordered for a little while this month. I think I’ve seen the cross using part of the die before although I’ll never be able to identify the source or the original.

I also received part of my Summer Mini Catalog pre-order this week — I love the new Flower Garden textured embossing folder! (It’s pictured backwards in the mini catalog in case you’re really observant!). I used my Big Shot to emboss the image on some Pear Pizzazz card stock. The hard part was using my Big Blossoms punch to make the flower — can you tell it’s a daffodil? Chris figured that out, but thought my cross was a mis-shapen bunny!! Yikes … isn’t it obvious?! The Wild Wasabi leaves are just scraps that I randomly cut. My sentiment is also from the Easter Blossoms stamp set. I stamped in VersaMark and then embossed in gold — it’s punched using the Decorative Label punch.

Anyway … I do hope everyone has a blessed Easter tomorrow. I’m so looking forward to our church service. On Easter Sunday, we share the service with a Korean church that uses the chapel of our building for their services each week. Their choir is wonderful and they have a fabulous bell choir too! If I don’t get to bed though, I’ll be missing my sunrise service that I finally have the opportunity to attend — usually I’m working overnight on Easter weekend so this is truly a treat!

May God bless all of you as we celebrate Him tomorrow! He is Risen!!

Jeannie