{Maria & Tony's Wedding} Favours

Remember those super pretty silver and creme custom wedding invitations I did?  If not, click here to see that post.  Here's the matching favour box. No machines used for this project, this was all manual labour, old-school style! I used prima fabric flowers, silver ribbon, crystal i-Rock gems (where would I be without that i-Rock?) and the scroll had a little message from the couple.

Want to know what's inside of these cute little boxes?  Scroll down!

My sister Melissa is a certified Chocolatier. These truffles are hazelnut and espresso and trust me, they taste amazing!

Lucky Charm Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Lucky Charm Blog Hop! And Welcome to my blog of course!  In case you’ve never been to my blog, my name is Nadia, I love my Cricut machines and all things crafty! Id be super happy if you follow my blog and my adventures in crafting. Not only do I share my Cricut crafty creations, but I also like to share my finds on the net such as free printables (for those of us in a hurry)! 

If you have come from Giselle’s blog, you are in the right place.  If you stumbled upon my blog…well then…what the heck are ya waiting for? Go back to Giselle’s blog and start hopping from the beginning because this hop is full of talented ladies {and giveaways, too}!

This blog hop is all about creating something for the lucky charm in your life.  And in my case, my lucky charm is my husband and nothing makes him happier than a delicious batch of cupcakes!  I love Martha Stewart and I got this recipe in my Martha Stewart Cupcakes book.  If you cant stop staring at my cupcakes and wanna give them a try, here’s the link for the recipe: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/carrot-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese-icing.

To go with these cupcakes, I made St. Patrick’s Day inspired cupcake toppers. 

Supplies for the Cupcake Toppers:
Cricut Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridge (for the Shamrock)
Cricut Mini Monograms cartridge (for the scalloped circle)
Cricut Hello Kitty Greetings (for the rainbow)
Elmers Glitter in Green
Dark green, light green, black, blue, yellow, red and orange cardstock
Martha Stewart Baking Twine in Green
Toothpicks and Scotchtape
Xyron 2.5 machine and a glitter tray  (for easy glittering)

Supplies for the Cupcake Placemat:
Dark green cardstock
Cricut Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridge (for the Shamrock)

For blog candy I will be giving away an iRock. I swear by this handy crafty little tool, it is frequently used in my craft room!

Please leave a comment on this post telling me what you use an iRock for, other than for cards, and with a way for me to contact you if you win (only one comment per person please). Since I love my followers and their comments, blog candy is for followers only, so if you aren't one, sign up and follow already! Comments will close on Friday, March 18, 2011 at 11:59 p.m E.S.T.) The winner will be announced on Saturday.The winner will have until next Saturday (March 26) to claim the prize, if unclaimed I will select another winner on Sunday. 

Now that you are done drooling over my cupcakes, it’s time for you to hop on over to Jennifer’s Blog at http://www.creativearmywife.blogspot.com/

In case you get lost along the way or encounter a missing link, here is a list of all the hoppers!

Giselle - http://www.crossmyheartpapercrafts.blogspot.com/
Nadia - http://www.nadiasbeautifulmess.blogspot.com/
Jennifer - http://www.creativearmywife.blogspot.com/
Alina - http://www.neverstopscrapping.blogspot.com/
Kim - http://www.rickettscricuts.blogspot.com/
Yolonda - http://www.craftyscentiments.blogspot.com/
Donna - http://www.donnasdreamworks.blogspot.com/
Carol - http://www.caroleesscrappinspot.blogspot.com/
Rebecca - http://www.creationswithbecka.blogspot.com/
Linda - http://www.fancyframework.com/
Amy - http://www.amydesigns.blogspot.com/
Lisa - http://www.prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com/
Sue- http://www.ScrappinSuzy.blogspot.com/
Carrie - http://www.paperglitterstamps.blogspot.com/
Patricia - http://www.creativediva98.blogspot.com/
Wendy - http://www.wendyscreativecraftingcorner.blogspot.com/
Kimi & Pamela - http://www.lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/
Darcy - http://www.dlmbscrapping-time2create.blogspot.com/
Julie - http://www.tidbitsnscraps.blogspot.com/
Shawnte - http://www.shawnteparks.blogspot.com/
Amber - http://www.pixiperfectcreations.blogspot.com/
Melissa - http://www.adventuresinheels.com/

{St. Patrick's Day Roundup - Free Printables!}

Leprechaun Treasure Hunt Printables:
http://thecraftingchicks.com/2011/03/leprechaun-treasure-hunt-follow-the-colors-of-the-rainbow-free-downloads.html

St. Patrick's Day Tags:
http://thecraftingchicks.com/2011/03/leprechaun-treasure-details-free-st-patricks-day-tags.html

St. Patrick's Day Gift Tags:
http://thecraftingchicks.com/2011/02/little-gifts-for-st-patricks-day-free-downloads.html

St. Patrick's Day Poster Art:
http://thecraftingchicks.com/2011/02/simple-st-patricks-day-decor-ideas-free-download.html

St. Patrick's Day Bag Toppers:
http://onecharmingparty.com/2011/03/07/st-pattys-day-printable/

St. Patrick's Day Coasters:
http://www.twigandthistle.com/blog/2011/03/diy-st-patricks-day-coasters/

Pot of Gold Cupcake/Bag Toppers:
http://bethproudfoot.blogspot.com/2011/02/youre-my-pot-o-gold.html

St. Patrick's Day "Lucky U" Tags:
http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/03/lucky-u.html

Lucky Bag/Gift Toppers:
http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/02/im-so-lucky.html

Banner, Toppers, Party Decor and Poster Art:
http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/photo-styling-ideas-for-hgtv-st-patricks-day-decorating-craft-ideas/

Water Bottle Labels, Toppers, Patterned Paper, etc.
http://www.howdoesshe.com/lucky-you-free-exclusive-howdoesshe-st-patricks-day-printables

Cupcake Toppers:
http://thegivingmadam.blogspot.com/2011/02/free-printable-diy-st-patricks-day.html

Under $5 and 5 minutes St. Patrick's Day Decor

I haven't had much time for handmade decor around the house for St. Patrick's Day. So if you are looking for some great looking decor, look at what I made in under 5 minutes and cost less than $5.00. There are many fabulous free printable blogs (such as Eighteen25 and Lolly Jane Boutique, who created the art that I used below) and one of the new "hot" decor items these days is framed subway art. I picked up some cheap $2.00 frames at Dollarama and here are the results:

The frames and printed poster art before assembling:

To get your free printables, click HERE and HERE.  Enjoy! Hope this helps some of your last minute St. Patty prep!!!

Stampin Daisies - Exciting News!

Im happy to share some wonderful news: Monica from Stampin Daisies has selected me to be on her design team!  Click HERE to check out the announcement and to purchase her newly released stamp set.  This is my first ever design team and I couldn't be happier to showcase Monica's rockin' stamps.  Here's a list of her FIRST EVER DESIGN TEAM CREW:

Jenny from Paper-Craftying Crazy Me

Jessica from The Creative Stamper Spot

Linda from Fancy Framework
Nadia from Nadia's Beautiful Mess <<<ME!!!>>>

You can visit all the designer's blogs by clicking on their names. That will take you directly to their blogs, so go on ahead, check them out and show your support by following them!

This stamp set is available for pre-sale now! $12.50 + FREE SHIPPING for U.S. residents only ($1 for Canadian residents)

Click HERE to go to the recorded Ustream to check out a few sneak peaks of her future stamp sets.  If you want to keep up to date on her future stamp releases, follow her on her blog by clicking HERE.  Stampin Daisies also has has some blog candy to give away if she reaches 600 followers.  You can also follow her on Facebook by clicking HERE.  I'm honoured to be on her design team and super excited to share and show you all what amazing unique stamp sets she has planned for the near future :)

The Mess On My Desk (messy, but Beautiful)!

This is the current state of my desk: A Mess! But I must say, it's quite beautiful. At the top left corner of this picture is my carousel which holds my frequently used tools such as 3-D foam squares, Action Wobbles, ATG, corner rounder, zig pen, acrylic stamping blocks, Cricut spatula and so on. 

At the bottom left hand corner, underneath the glue gun and gypsy travel case is some top-secret information! They contain notes, ideas and good things for the future :)  See those Recollections embellishments? I love them. It's an essential for invitation making. It makes an invitation that much more classy and elegant. I stocked up on them since a current client needs menu cards, table cards, etc for her wedding. Underneath those embellishments is my container which holds all my Imaginisce I-Rock materials. I've been using my I-Rock to add crystals to the favor boxes I'm making a client.

Speaking of favor boxes, if you take a look at the picture above, those are two samples I created. Can you guess which one she liked best? Yep, the one with the Prima flowers. I will do a future post on the boxes once they are complete.

Also pictured above are breast cancer survivor embellishments/stickers from Me and My Big Ideas. So happy to have found them, it is difficult to find crafty related breast cancer items.  

Here's a peak at the "Thank You" cards I created for my mom to give to all the people who have been visiting and praying. I'm currently on a mission to get the Cricut Pink Journey cartridge, but in the meantime, I found a solution which I hope will help others.  Once these cards are good to go, I will do a post details, etc.  

Glitter trays are essential when glittering...otherwise your craft area will get messy.  I got the blue tray at Michael's and it's a huge help. To the left of the tray is my little pink Xyron. Xyron's are also an essential for glittering.

On the right hand bottom corner is my Gypsy. Thank goodness for this helpful little machine!  I do a lot of my "bulk" creations on it. In fact, I've been using it quite a bit ever since my mother was diagnosed. I take it to the hospital, my mom's house...it's so handy!

Lastly, at the top right hand corner is a Tim Holtz inspired mini-album and is really special to me.  Giselle made it for me to give to my husband for our 5 year (dating) anniversary. That too will be featured in another post. 

One last thing! It's made me really happy to see that a lot of people found my YourStory tutorial very handy.  I've had a couple of requests for a 5x7 tutorial.  I will be working on it shortly and hope to have it up soon, including a gypsy file for both 4x6 and 5x7 covers.

Stampin Daisies with Monica

Hi Everyone,
I wanted to share a crafty blog with you all.  Monica is super sweet and talented and her blog, Stampin Daisies, has lots of card inspiration. Stop by her blog and support her!
http://www.stampindaisies.com/

She is also releasing her own stamp line!!! Here is the link for the Facebook Ustream Event:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=171445699570273