GulfcoastStamper

Girlfriend Gifts

I have a great group of crafty friends.  We all have busy lives with jobs and families but we manage to sneak away a few times a year for crops and retreats and get our much needed girl time in.  (It is the best way to re-group and re-charge, especially when you are surrounded by a house full of men) It is often the only time we get to see each other as several of our group are scattered across the state.  

It has kind of become a thing to make a small 'table gift" for each person at these little getaways.   I recently shared some pictures of our latest getaway to Cocoa Beach.  Today I thought I would share some of the table gifts I created for my friends.  Since we were gone the weekend before Easter my gifts kind of took on an Easter theme.  

Table Gift Day 1

I have had these little treat boxes hanging around for ages.  (I think they came from www.clearbags.com).  I found these milk chocolate Hazlenut (Hazlenut!!!)  bunnies at a Lindt store and couldn't resist.  A little tweaking of a Silhouette file to fit the front of my clear box, some pink paper shred and a pink ribbon bow and my first gift was done.

The little stitched bunny tag was die cut with a new die from Lil' Inkers.  I found this little stamp and die company totally by accident and I am now a HUGE fan.  They are located in Massachusetts (my home state) and I am happy to support any home team! Shipping is super fast and I am hooked on their double stitched dies...freakin' genius!  You can check them out HERE.  

Table Gift Day 2

 

My Silhouette to the rescue again! This super cute little stand-alone bunny is from a file in the Silhouette store.  The bunny's tummy is an EOS lip balm.  And every bunny needs a cotton tail.  Super cute, super quick and super easy!  

Table Gift Day 3

This one started with the bright colored chocolate Easter eggs and Stampin' Up's egg cartons.  I loved the bright. bold colors of the eggs (no pastels for this group!) and wanted my gift packaging to match.  I used Stampin' Up! reinkers in Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie to spritz my egg cartons and then made my chicks from the Sale-a-Bration set Hey Chick a little wild and crazy to match.  

Table Gift Day 4

For our last day I created a cute little 3D holder for those little Lindt carrots that we only see at Easter time.  The base was made from Stampin' Up! Thick Whisper White card stock for extra durability.  Both the paper and that adorable little bunny are from my March Simon Says Stamp card kit.  I have had so much fun with this set and will be sharing some cards I created with it in my next Blog post.  

We have another crop weekend coming up in June and of course our Disney retreat in September.  I need to get working on my gifts for those!  

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stoppin' by!

Cocoa Beach

I just spent 5 glorious days at the beach with three of my craftiest friends.  We ate too much, drank too much, slept too little and got lots of scrapping and crafting done.  I was the rookie of the bunch as this is an annual crop that my friends have all attended before but it was my first time at this particular crop.  It was a 4 1/2 hour drive from home but well worth the trip!  (we have already reserved our spots for next year!)  

We headed from the west coast to the east coast, across the middle of the state, to Cocoa Beach or what is also known as the Space Coast; home of the Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Air Force Base.  The weather was warm but overcast and windy.

 Our first night we hit the pier, had an awesome seafood dinner and a bucket of rum.  Yes, a bucket. 

The weather continued to improve the remainder of the week and was sunny and warm, hovering right around 80 degrees. Perfect Florida weather! You would think 5 days of R&R and Creative time would be enough, but sadly we did not see as much of the pool or beach as we would have liked.  Guess we will just have to extend our stay next year!

However, we did mange to complete a lot of projects and play with some new toys.  I have recently become obsessed with water coloring but I am a novice.  I spent a lot of time watching videos and learning how to use my new Zig Clean Color Markers. LOVE them! They make it easy to get really good results after just a little bit of practice. More on those later.  

  

The crop was held at the DoubleTree right on Cocoa Beach.  If you are looking for a great hotel with a fantastic staff I would highly recommend them.  

 an

On Saturday night my oldest son Ben and his girlfriend Amanda drove up from Orlando, which is about 40 minutes away, and had dinner with us.  We found a great little restaurant right on the water...more sun and seafood!  

I created little "table gifts' for my table mates for every day we were at the crop.  I will be sharing those in the next few days!  Thanks for letting me share my weekend getaway with you and thanks for stoppin' by!