Card, Cake And Candy!

I just checked my stat counter, and it's at 5015!!! You know, when I started this blog, I never and I mean NEVER thought I'd get to 5000 hits. I saw other blogs with 5000 and more hits, and wondered with admiration how they ever got so many people to look at their blog! Well, I'm not quite sure how, but somehow I did it! (Insert proud moment, and self-pat on the back here!) I really enjoy writing these posts; it helps me keep track of my projects, and it's also a bit of a diary of my stampin' life. Thank you to all of you out there who have been reading my blog; I enjoy your comments, and am happy to have you visit! :)

I'll talk about the "Candy" in a bit, but first I want to get to the Card and the Cake. My very good friend (and upline) Bonnie just had a baby girl 2 weeks ago today. Once I heard the news, I knew I wanted to do something special. I knew I'd make her a card (a given!), but I also wanted her gift to be different, and something I spent some time on. So off I went to Splitcoast in search of some ideas. What I ended up finding was this post of a "Diaper Cake"! WOW! - I thought; that's exactly what I want to do! Well, Joeknee (who made the cake on Splitcoast) even posted a link to a website that gave directions on how to make a diaper cake, so off I went. Once I knew all the things I needed to make it, I headed out to buy some baby clothes, diapers, pretty pink ribbon, and all the other items I needed to make my "cake". I splurged quite a bit on this one, but I just really wanted to make this, so I didn't mind spending the extra $$. I bought a pack of size 2 diapers (the directions say to buy more than one size, but at $18 a pack of diapers, that adds up - especially since you want to put gifts in there too!), and started rolling. I think I used about 52 of the 60 in the package! This cake was REALLY easy to make; the hardest part (I found) about it was wrapping it in the cello-wrap! The short ends wouldn't stay tucked in, so I had to tape them shut with a little piece of clear tape. For gifts, I added some sleepers, onesies and a little dress outfit (with wee little tights!). Other good things to include would be: receiving blankets, socks, stuffed animals, hats, etc. You could really go all out with this one! I had a lot of fun making this, and would do it again in a heartbeat. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of it wrapped in the cello; it looks really special all wrapped up with a nice pink bow at the top!

For the card I needed something really simple, since I had spend so much time on the gift, I had little time left to whip up the card (I was meeting the new little one the next day!)! I really like using PearlEx, so I VersaMarked the front of the card, and sprinkled some on. I love this little giraffe, and also really wanted to use a scalloped edge, so I came up with this little "window" card. It's hard to see the shiny surface in this picture, but if you click on it to make it bigger, you might be able to see it better. I used stamps from the "So Very" SAB set, and to finish it off, added some primas and of course a little glitz - a rhinestone brad.

SO, now for the Candy! Who wants some primas? How about ribbon? Maybe some designer paper? I'm putting together a nice little package for the winner, and will post a picture of it tomorrow! I will keep this open until Friday the 25th, at 7pm (Mountain time), when I will use the Random Number Selector to determine a winner! Here's what I want you to do: I love entering these posts, and enjoy watching the stat counter go up everyday, but other than the counter, I don't get a lot of comments on my blog. So, to enter for the blog candy, I would like you to reply to this post, and tell me which project on my blog you like the best, and why. I'd also like to hear any feedback about my blog; what you like, what you'd like to see, etc. I see that 5000 of you have visited, but I'd love to know what you actually think about what you see while you're here! :)

See you tomorrow with the yummy candy picture! :)