I am finally back and have a lot to share

Well, it certainly has been a while since I have maintained my blog!!! I am finally back and ready to run with it full force.  My husband is in the Air Force and this past year has been a whirlwind.  We moved from Alaska to Idaho, bought our first house, I got a new full time job right away, and we both finished our Master's degrees in business.  Whew!!!!  You can certainly see why there was no time for blogging, ha ha.  However, things have settled down a bit, (well, not really) and I am finally at a point where I have made blogging and my etsy shop a priority again.  I won't be moving again for a really long time and am able to dedicate time to the things I love doing so much, which is crafting and sharing those crafts with you.  I am currently still a Close To My Heart consultant, I have my Etsy shop, Bee-Happy Cards and I have just started a new business selling vintage and homemade items with my sister, called The County's Bounty!!!  Our new shop will appear online soon, so look for updates on that.  I am very excited about it, as we hope to make it our full time careers in the future.  In the meantime, thank you so so much for visiting my blog.  I look forward to posting a LOT of projects starting today and many times a week!!!  I also look forward to getting to know more crafters out there, so please leave your blog link every chance you get and I be certain to visit you too!!!!!

This set of cards I made recently and have posted on my Etsy Shop.  These cards were made using various patterned papers and cricut die cut images.They are all A2 sized cards.

Boxed Gift Card Set #14

This is a set of 5 cards I made for my co-workers as we are ending the school year and most of us will not see each other again.  Being a military wife means working somewhere for a few years and then leaving, and that is exactly what we are doing this year.  My co-workers are mostly military wives as well and most of them are moving also.  Therefore, I decided to make a little present for each of them, since they always tell me how much they enjoy my cards.  I wound up making a set of 5 cards for each of them, which means I made 12 sets!! It was a lot of work and took over 2 weeks to complete, but it was also a lot of fun and I know they will appreciate them. 

The clear boxes I put them in are from Clearbags.com

Primitive Basket of Cards Set

I made this set of cards for a friend.  It is done in the exact colors and style of her house, which is very primitive or country style.

boxed gift card set #12

A very simple set using a border punch, buttons, and ribbon!

Boxed Gift Card Set #11

Yet another boxed gift card set, I know! LOL!  I finally posted the directions to make this cute little box below.

Gift Box Set with hinged lid

Here is a decoupaged box and card set with envelopes which I made using the Anna Griffin Fifi and Fido Collection of papers and stickers.  The box is hinged and fits A2 sized cards perfectly.  It is a recipe box from the dollar aisle at Michaels.  Sorry for the awful photography on this post, I just wasn't with it today.
click on images to see larger

Box Instructions for Boxed Gift Card Sets

A lot of people have asked me to post the instructions for the Boxed Gift card sets that I keep making and posting, so here is it is. There are pictures to help visually although it is a very simple box. 
Recipe:
1.  Cut a piece of cardstock to 10" by 10"
2.  Score at 2" and 8" on one side
3.  Turn 90 degrees and score at 4" and 6"
4.  Then cut the flaps as shown in pic so box can be folded
5.  fold all score lines and glue sides together as shown
6.  Hole punch the sides so that a handle can be attached with brads
DONE!! Woo hoo!  it is the easiest box in the world and I designed the size to perfectly fit an A2 sized card and envelope.  I make up tons of these with 4 cards and envelopes and sell them at the Christmas Bizarre on the Air Force Base I live on, or I give them away all year long when I need a quick gift.  I also give away a couple of them each month at the Enlisted Spouses Club meetings I go to as door prizes!

Boxed Gift Card Set #10 using Florals Embellished Cartridge

Here is my 10th boxed gift card set using the Florals Embellished Cartridge and Country Drive papers from Hero Arts, I love Hero Arts Papers!!

Boxed Gift Card Set #9

I wanted to make a set using nothing but Close To My Heart papers and stamps so here it is.  This is the Mayberry paper pack.

Boxed Gift Card Set #8

Boxed Gift Card Set #7

Paper- DCWV Latte stack
Sentiments- Hero Arts clear stamps
Bird and Branch element- Stampin Up! Punch

"Elegant Edges" Boxed Gift Card Set #6

Yet another gift card set using the Elegant Edges Cartridge on the front of the box and also using the new Lemon Flower Stack by DCWV.

"Elegant Edges" balloon boxed gift card set #5

This balloon set was made using first of all my very new favorite Cricut Cartridge, "Elegant Edges." The label on which the balloons are resting is found on that cart on page 47.  It is the snowflake label.  I used the oblong feature to make it look more like a cloud than a snowflake! The patterned papers are from the itsy bitsy paper stack by K and Company.   The balloons are from a Martha Stewart balloon punch, and I punched them out twice and layered them with a popdot so they would be dimensional.  I then added bakers twine to them.  The photo corners are punched from a corner punch by Fiskars and the banner label containing the sentiment is from a spellbinders die.  I then stamped a simple sentiment on to each card, and added a premade bow I bought at walmart.

Boxed Gift Card Set #4

I am entering this in the More than favors Wacky Wednesday Challenge.  The theme is "anything goes," and this certainly applies to that.  These are the Sweet Nectar Papers from K and Company.  It is a box I made from a 10 by 10 inch square of cardstock, with four note cards and envelopes.