Online orders arrived!

Ordered three die sets from the sale at PixiDust Designs. Too late for this Easter but fun projects ahead for next year:

Also for the Total Eclipse Divinity Designs had an Eclipse sale - you could get a large discount on one item using their sale code. So I ordered the Candy Carrier - CBD462 that I have wanted to order for awhile that holds Hershey Nugget candies but I hadn't ordered it yet. Here is a photo of that die set:

With the sale coupon code that took the price to $18.09 so I was a happy customer! Also I like their flat rate shipping:

Happy me they sent me a free die with my order:

Also odds and ends -- my last haul I posted was from the Reconsidered Goods store in Greensboro, NC and that is a used store filled with lots of craft items.... My PIC found this store and she and I have shopped it together and also at different times and each time you purchase items at the store they will stamp a customer rewards card and when you fill your card this equals $10.00 off your next purchase. When I made my last purchase from them - with all the Anna Griffin dies and other die sets I bought - I filled up my customer rewards card. The cashier explained to me that the store has discontinued these cards but they will honor the cards until they are filled up and redeemed. So besides leaving the store with all the great deals I found last time I also left with this $10.00 filled customer rewards card thinking I would come back sooner than later and redeem that. 

I did go back the end of last week but did not expect to find the great items I had found last time, just to redeem my $10.00 card. I was happy I did find a few more things:

This oval die set has the same packaging as the dies used to from PaperTreyInk and here are the dies in that set and that was $1.00:

There was one die set left of Anna Griffin's and I decided to pick it up for Christmas projects and that was marked $4.00:

Also picked up a wreath die for $1.00:

also a scallop border punch for $1.00:

A half embossing folder by Gemini for $1.00 and a Christmas Countdown embossing folder by Cuttlebug for 25 cents:

and happy me I found two unopened bags of sequin mixes for shaker projects:

Although this trip was not as great as the last time, finding all the Anna Griffin dies, I certainly did not leave disappointed as you can see I did find lots to use my $10.00 card on. I also found a glass jar to keep my fuse tool in, as well as a jar with a lid, to hold more ribbons....  I have shopped that store before and always find great items at great prices so I will go back -- each time you never know what you will find as it depends on what they have gotten in, but thinking the last trip was the best I have done there yet. Wish they were closer but even with the drive picking up Anna Griffin die sets for $2.00 ea and up was a good deal. This time they did not have many stamp sets or dies but they had a bookcase filled with baskets of stickers/embellishments which the two ladies sitting on the floor looking through these baskets seemed to be happy about -- so between never knowing what you will find there and their prices, it is a fun trip. 

Back to work next week, as vacation ends, so for now finishing putting everything away I have brought into the craft room on this vacation and enjoying that!

Go with the gut feeling .....

On vacation for a couple of weeks and I knew sometime during my break from work that I wanted to go to two recycle stores that I like to shop at.... one is in Greensboro and the other is in Durham.. not sure when I would end up going until . . . both stores are closed on Mondays so while I was working in the craft room this Monday I decided I wanted to go to these stores the next day -- so asked DH if he wanted to go along and he said he would so we headed out on Tuesday morning around 8AM to make the trip to Greensboro to the Reconsidered Goods store there.  My PIC (stamping Partner In Crime) had come across this store last year and she told me about it and I have been there a few times.

This store has craft items -- yarns, paints, fabrics, patterns, and they also have a stamping/scrapbooking section. DH dropped me off and he went to get gas for the car and he said he would come in when he was finished if he did not see me outside the store waiting for him.... I went in and got a cart and headed back to the stamping/scrapbooking section. Since I had last shopped there they have reorganized that section and are moving things around - there was a woman there moving things around while I was shopping. I checked the stamps and the steel ruled dies first and worked my way over to a shelf next to where she was working and at the bottom of this shelf were two large baskets that held thin metal dies and die sets. I pulled out one of the baskets and put it in my cart and looked through that and much to my surprise I found die sets from Anna Griffin. The first die set I found was her Gazebo die set:

I was shocked to find this die set there and esp with the $2.00 price tag..... I like the Anna Griffin dies she sells but they are too expensive for my craft room so I do not own any of her dies.... many of her dies are beautiful, very detailed, and I found Heartfelt Creations sold many die sets that were similar to hers with the ornate look or details and with shopping their booth at the stamp shows and show specials, I own a lot of their die sets. Also in one of these baskets was her Purse Card die set and that was $2.00 so I also brought that home:

I plan on making an insert for that Purse die set to make it into a treat holder and it is very detailed and is cute. Also picked up the Teacup Pop Up die set for $2.50. Also her Basket Pop Up die set that was $3.00. 

Her Teacup die set:

As I looked through that first basket I also found other dies and die sets at similar prices:

The above photos are dies/die sets I found in the two baskets at the bottom on the shelf. When I finished looking at those I went around the corner to where they had sorted card stocks in solids and prints hoping to find a print for one of the altered holiday clip boards I am working on.... Looked through the printed card stock and found three sheets I liked so those went in the cart.... I went back around to the area I had just shopped at and straight ahead on the floor was a large bin with different supplies in it. On the top was a drawer from a white cubbie and that had stencils and rulers and tools like that stacked in the drawer. Next to the drawer were larger items -- smaller trimmers and such. I finished looking at that and I stepped back to turn my cart around and I glanced at the bin to see what I could see that was under the white drawer at the top. 

I went back over and picked up the drawer and there was the stash........ lots of clear plastic envelopes and these were all Anna Griffin dies -- some were die sets alone in a plastic envelope, other envelopes had like die sets in them, etc. Here are some photos of the dies/die sets I brought home:

In the bin were envelopes with multiple die sets:

This envelope is labeled Pockets and there are Anna Griffin pocket dies, slimline pocket dies, corner pocket dies, as well as pocket dies from other companies -- Spellbinders, Heartfelt Creations, and other unmarked pocket dies:

Another envelope is labeled Flips/Fantastic Flips and this envelope has 8 die sets in it with the project sheets and that was marked $8.00:

and on the bottom.... there it was -- the thickest and heaviest envelope of them all -- and the most expensive at $13.00 -- ALL Halloween..... Happy me that I brought that home -- inside that envelope is the Anna Griffin Spiders & Specters die set, the Halloween Embellishment die set, Scaredy Cat die set, the Halloween cut and emboss folder set, (two different sets), and lots of other Halloween dies -- Echo Park, Spellbinders, Diamond Press... Also four stamp sets and loose die sets, etc:

This envelope was loaded:

The majority of these die sets are on the original packaging sheets and do not look used. Once I came home I looked up all the die sets on line to be sure I have all pieces and happily I do. I was happy to find these Anna Griffin dies at such cheap prices as I know her die sets are pricey. There were so many die sets to choose from at the store but I was careful to bring home dies I know I will use and not just buy any die set because the prices were so good.... 

DH came in the store and came over to find me and we walked through the rest of the store and then I checked out. They have a little rewards card at that store and they stamp it each time you buy things. I now have a full card so my next purchase I will get $10.00 off as a full card equals the discount the next time I shop.... 

We left there and headed home -- with DH driving I was able to go through all my new-to-my-craft room items so that was fun.  On our way home we veered off our route to stop in Durham to shop at the Scrap Exchange, another recycle store. This store has craft items but lots of other items as well. I usually shop over in the fabric/yarn section, jewelry/beads, and also the stamping area. This time I started in the stamping area and I found an oval stencil set from WaffleFlower and that was marked as 25 cents and I found a wooden stamp I liked for $1.00. Walked over to the plastic bins/storage area and there they were --- the clear refrigerator bins like I use in my craft room to store various items - 

Largest bin was $2 and the others were $1 or 75 cents each -- so for $6.50 I brought all these bins home, washed them, and they are ready for the craft room:

Happy I listened to my hunch that I needed to shop these two stores on Tuesday.. MORE than happy with all I brought home and will be busy cleaning up from all my Easter projects as well as getting my new-to-my-craft room items organized and put away for future projects! Esp happy that I have some Anna Griffin die sets in my stash and hope to get lots of use of those for projects and holiday projects ahead!

Some Easter Treat Holders

This post shows some of the Easter Treat holders I made this year using various products for the treat holders:

Cute self closing box that holds one Ghirardelli candy and the box die is from My-Creative-Time.com. It is a one piece die set:

 For this Tootsie Pop holder I used the older lollipop die set from my stash by MFTStamps.com:

Added the small Scalloped Stitch Rosette die set from My-Creative-Time.com. The little bunny in the center of the rosette is from part of a KSCrafts Easter die set in their Easter release. Hard to see in the photo but I used background stamps from my stash to stamp on the front of the holder in matching inks to give the fronts more dimension. Added washi tapes to the bottom of the holders. Metallic threads on my rosettes are from my stash. 

Used the Bunny Ear Bow die set from KSCrafts for the bunny ear bows to put on the bag topper die from My-Creative-Time.com:

Also wrapped and made a tray to hold 5 Hershey Nugget candies to put in the bags as well as I made small boxes using a brand new die set from ScrappyBoyStamps.com that I picked up at the stamp show in October that my PIC (stamping Partner In Crime) and I attended in Tennessee:

This box was very easy to assemble and it has a stitched die for a printed card stock on the top of the box as well as a stitched die piece for the inside bottom of the box as a liner:

I used two kinds of nugget candies for this box and I wrapped the candies with printed card stock to match the prints on all the boxes I made. Standing the nuggets on their sides this box will hold four of the nugget candies. Used a "Happy Easter" die set with shadow piece from my stash. Cut the shadow piece using vellum and the words are cut out of glittered card stocks to match the colours I used on the boxes.  

Also used a candy bar box die set from theStampMarket.com during their sale and inside is an almond Hershey bar. Again I used various plaid pieces for the box fronts and each box is cut out of different coloured card stocks:

Altho each box is a different colour and has a different plaid card stock front panel I did use the larger Carrot Bunny Bow die set for the carrot/bunny to decorate the front of the boxes above the stamped greeting. I used an older wooden stamp from my stash for the greeting and die cut that out using a stitched rectangle die from the stash. 

Used the Bunny Ear bag toppers I made on a small clear bag filled with misc candies for the bags. I used tear and tape to put the bag toppers on the bag tops. Also used sheer organdy bags from the dollar store to hold a Cadbury egg and Reese's peanut butter egg for each bag.  Fun holiday to create for using many holiday dies. Also happy to use card stocks/stamps/pom poms from the stash...

Easter Bag Fronts - - -

This is one of the fronts of the Easter bags I made this year. I wanted to use items I already had in my stash so I looked through the paper gift bags I had on hand and decided to use a white gift bag. For the fronts of the bags I used different plaid card stocks from my stash so each bag was different as far as the plaid prints and colours went. I wanted to use the clipped crepe paper fringe to decorate the tops of the bags. To make these I decided on four colours of crepe paper I had in my stash from the dollar store:

I used a white, yellow, light pink, and light blue crepe paper. I measured the width of the bag front and I cut my crepe paper about an inch longer. I laid down my first piece and put hot glue on that and then added the second colour on top of that. Since it is hot glue and it sets quickly I put the glue across the crepe paper in sections so the second layer would stick. Here is a photo to show this better:

and

until I had all four colours stacked. I wanted this fringe to be thicker so I put two of the stacks on top of each other and then used the M Stewart fringe scissors to clip the edges on both sides of the hot glue lines:

Once both edges were clipped I used my hand to scrunch up the clipped crepe paper:

With all the fringe pieces made I cut the plaid card stocks to the size I wanted for the bag fronts and put the plaid card stocks on the bag front using liquid glue. Using hot glue I put the fringed crepe paper piece across the top of the bag and used scissors to cut the excess off the edges of the bags. 

For the Easter basket I used the basket die set from the KSCrafts Easter release die set and I cut the basket out of flat recycled card board. Added brown inks to that piece using a make up pouncer I bought from Amazon to use as pouncing tools for inks. I also cut this basket out of kraft card stock and put the two basket pieces together using liquid glue:

 Free hand I cut a piece of kraft card stock to put behind the open basket piece so it would look solid. Again using liquid glue I put the kraft card stock behind the basket.  For the eggs in the basket I used a larger oval punch and punched out eggs from scrap card stocks in the stash. Sponged the edges of the eggs using matching ink colours. I used tear and tape and put the green grass die cut piece at the top of the basket. Used glue to add my eggs to the basket. For the basket in the photo above I used the bow die in the basket set and cut out a bow using glittered card stock. The carrot/bunny bow on the left is also from KSCrafts. 

Used the Happy Easter die set from KSCrafts to cut out the greeting and I put those on the bag front using liquid glue. Each bag looks different with the different plaid card stock and the colours on the paper but other than the different plaids I made all the bags the same. Here is a photo of some of the bags showing the different plaid card stocks I used:

 Fun bag front to put together.