CardSwaps Treat Yourself Blog Hop

WELCOME  to the Treat Yourself Blog Hop!

There is an awesome crop going on over at the CardSwaps forum on CardMaker's site this week. Challenges and games will be posted August 8-11, 2012 and you have until 11:59PM EST August 14, 2012 to get your projects posted to the appropriate thread. If you haven't participated before, don't worry! There are many members and myself that will be around to offer support and encouragement. You can find out all you need to know in the forum. At the end of the hop, you will be taken to the crop and I do hope you join in. Collect the letters along the way and unscramble them to be entered into the drawing for a prize for one lucky hopper! You will be given details at the bottom of the post. Don't skip ahead!!! 

You should have  arrived here from Jane's  blog, I hope. If not, go back and check out her blog and see the amazing creation she has made especially for this blog hop. While there be sure to leave her some love with a comment and grab her letter that you will need for the Unscramble It game.
The blog hop "theme" goes with the crop title of "Treat Yourself". The type of project was left  up to the hostesses of the blog hop, as long as it somehow conveyed a way the hostess "treats" herself. We were also asked to share something about a way we unwind or our favorite way to treat ourselves. I had to think about that for awhile as I wasn't sure how I really treated myself to be honest. Then I thought about time with the "girls". I have 4 friends whom I have known for years and have remained close to in spite of our busy  hectic schedules of work and raising kids. We manage to schedule some girl time together now and then which usually means a lunch or dinner date followed with maybe some shopping or seeing a movie. This brings me to my project...

I really didn't have anything stamp wise or image wise that I could use to show time out with the girls so I knew I would have to think outside the box for this one! Then I remembered something that occurs just about every time we get together for lunch or dinner. A couple of years ago the 5 of us decided to try a new restaurant for our girls night out dinner. Once the waitress took  our drink order she set some coasters down in front of each of us and said she would be right back with our drinks. My eyes zeroed in on those chipboard coasters and I immediately started thinking of all the things I could make with them. I started snatching them up as I was telling my friends what all I could do with them. When the waitress returned, you could tell she had a puzzled look on her face as if she was trying to remember if she had set down coasters already or not. That's when one of my friends spoke up and let her know she wasn't going crazy but that I had taken them and put them in my purse to take home to craft with. I sat there waiting for the coaster police to come out and take me away , when to my surprise the waitress said, "I do the same thing! Here have some more." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a big stack that she handed over to me. From that time on when we meet for lunch or dinner, my friends are grabbing up their coaster and handing them over to me!

Well those coasters have been sitting on a shelf in my craft room collecting dust so I decided it was time to finally use some of them for this blog hop. I made a post it holder using a coaster for the base and one for the top. In fact just this past week I was treating myself to a luncheon with the girls so I made one for each of them. The one I have pictured here was made using a Spellbinders butterfly. I cut the butterfly out of the piece of DP used to cover the top and then repositioned the butterfly to look as if the butterfly just came right out of the paper. I used some Lumiere paint to paint the coaster so that the printing of the coaster would not show through where I cut the butterfly out. The basic design of the post it note holder is not my own original idea but is from someone I follow on you tube. You can find her directions HERE if you would like to make one of your own. 

Supplies I used:

2 chipboard 3 1/2" square coasters

Designer Paper & Cardstock

Elmer's Rubber Cement Glue

Score Tape

Spellbinder's Butterfly die

Sizzix Leaf Branch die

Lumiere Pearl White Paint

Colorbox Lavender pigment ink

Pearls from my stash

Unscramble It game for hoppers... You will be unscrambling a word once you have collected a letter at each blog you visit. The hostesses can play along, because they don't know any of the letters but their own. Once you collect ALL the letters, the last hostess (Lora) in the blog hop will direct you to the thread in the forum where you can find all the details you need to enter the drawing. All hoppers collecting all the letters, unscrambling the word or phrase, entering the game by following the directions in the forum, and leaving feedback on EVERY blog in the hop WILL be entered into a random drawing held on August 15, 2012. ONE lucky hopper will have their name drawn and will win a prize!! Fun, right?? The winner will be posted in the forum on the game thread for Treat Yourself Unscramble It! So, make sure you visit every blog and find the letters. Your hints are... it’s a phrase, it has three words, and it’s a way to keep balance in one's life.

My letter is...

i

Now, be sure to hop on over to Margaret's blog next to see what she has created and to collect your next letter. Hope to see you over at the crop joining in on all the fun with the challenges and games!

The list of hoppers, in case you got lost somewhere on the hop:

Brooke Smith (CardMaker Blog)   :   http://www.cardmakermagazine.com/blog/
Jane   :   http://jane-notsuchaplainjane.blogspot.com/
Susan   :   http://lilbitofme-susan.blogspot.com/
Margaret      http://mmora-lilyana-365.blogspot.com/
Trudy Sjolander   :   http://truesgiftsfromtheheart.blogspot.com/
Golda   :   http://goldapete.wordpress.com/
Meredith   :   http://whatsnextma.blogspot.com/
Jeanette   :   http://jeanette9677.blogspot.com/
Colleen Schaan   :   http://www.distinctivetouches.com/
Laura   :   http://ljjonescircus.blogspot.com/
Ivanka   :   http://ivankascardstudio.blogspot.com/
Marlene   :   http://www.marlenescubbyholecreations.blogspot.com/
Anya Schrier   :   http://aschoss.blogspot.com/
Angelina   :   http://angel-artdesign.blogspot.com/
Ana   :   http://anaggarciam.blogspot.com/
Ashley   :   http://www.stampingwithashley.blogspot.com
Lora   :   http://www.lorabrinkman.com/