well hello, March.

A big welcome to my new sponsors! I am excited to share these talented shop and business owners. Please take a minute to check out their businesses by clicking on their links on the right sidebar.

I will be doing a "Sponsor Spotlight" on each sponsor - a little bit more about them, their inspiration and a glimpse into their lives. So be on the lookout :)

Want to be a sponsor for the month of March? Go here to check out more info. and send me an email :)

happy leap day

A very happy Leap Day! I  always love Leap Years - it's like a whole other "extra" day. Nevermind that it usually falls during the work week - I always want to drop everything and have a fun day - out doing fun things, out to eat, etc. - because it's an extra day, right!? :)

If you're looking for some cute ideas to "celebrate" Leap Day, TipJunkie has a fun little roundup of ideas and printables.

What about you? Do you do anything special on Leap Day?

Enjoy this "extra" day! ;)

Scrap Paper Pack Giveaway :: Winners!

Congratulations to Heather and Kate! I will be emailing you shortly :) Thank you so much to everyone for playing along, and a huge thank you to Xenia for such a fabulous giveaway! :)

DIY :: Scrap Paper Rounds Card

I am always punching paper rounds from bits and pieces of paper that are leftover from projects. I decided to throw some on a card, adhere them, stitch a border around it and call it done.  A fun card that can be used for anything (this one is a simple "Hello!" card), and uses up random bits of scrap paper :)

Super easy to make, all you need is:

+ scrap paper

+ paper punches (I used a 1.5" round, 1" round, and 1" scalloped round)

+ white cardstock card and matching envelope

+ rolling adhesive

+ sewing machine and thread

+ scissors (or ruler, rotary cutter and cutting mat)

I started by laying out the paper rounds in a general way of how I wanted them to be - I ended up taking a few away, moving others around, but it was a good starting point. I adhered them with permanent rolling adhesive.

Next, I stitched a border around the card, twice. No straight lines or anything, just fun and quick stitches around the perimeter.

This is what the card looked like at this point:

I flipped the card over and trimmed off the access paper rounds, then folded it and trimmed off the access at the fold.

I used a black pen, wrote "Hello!" and voila! a fun and easy to make greeting card :)

P.S. I will be closing comments and announcing the winners of the saturdayAMvintage Scrap Paper Packs later today :) Go here to enter :)

a few faves

Happy Monday! Some faves I am loving right now :) A teal and brown type theme :)

1. Metallic Bangles with Blue and Wood Beads by selenedream
2. Small Brown Kraft Envelopes from BerryandRabbit
3. Cotton Tape Joie de Vivre by lillalotta
4. Rosette Trio Hairclip by PerfectPetalBoutique
5. Antique Letterpress Printer's Tray from MrsRekamepip
6. Felt Pincushion - White Clouds in a Blue Sky by SeaPinks
7. Office Paper Pack from saturdayAMvintage
8. Paradise Blue Japanese Washi Tape from kawaiigoodies
9. Floral Printed Twill from ShopKStudio
10. Digital Paper Pack (Going Green) by FishScraps
11. Vintage Wood Letterpress Type Love You! by MonkiVintage
12. EcoFriendly Recycled Paper Pencil Set by WriteWithMoxie
13. Teal Beads in Handblown Glass Pendant by thestudio8

*Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the fabulous scrap paper packs form saturdayAMvintage. Ends tomorrow (Tuesday) :)

Giveaway :: Scrap Paper Packs from saturdayAMvintage

Happy Friday! A giveaway to start off the weekend :) As I've mentioned before, one of my fave places to buy paper goodness on etsy is saturdayAMvintage. The shop is full of wonderful vintage goodness. Be sure to go and look around, there are so many goodies! I love, love, love these paper packs (I just ordered another one and received it the other day :)). Xenia, the owner of saturdayAMvintage, graciously offered to give away two of her fabulous scrap paper packs here at The Creative Place. Thank you, Xenia! :)

Each 5.5" x 7.25" pack is a great combo of new and vintage papers and each piece is in perfect condition. Lovely little snippets of old ads, vintage dictionary pages, office-type papers, maps, vintage sheet music and more.

Two lucky people will each win one paper scrap pack. International entries are welcome. Giveaway will run through Tuesday, February 28 and I will announce the winners sometime that day.

To enter: 

+ Simply leave a comment. Please be sure to leave your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you are the winner.

+ For extra chances to win: Blog, FB or tweet about the giveaway (with a link to the giveaway). Leave a separate comment for each way you spread the word (leave one comment if you blog about it, leave another comment if you FB about it, leave yet another comment if you tweet about it :)).

Printable Journaling Cards

I've been needing some journaling cards (more on this soon :)) and I love throwing them together in my layout program. So, some freebies to download! These are 3"x4" - perfect for Project Life :) Or perfect to add to a mini journal, album, or scrapbooking page :) Click to enlarge, save, and then print onto white cardstock. The black tic marks are cutting guides. Enjoy!

As with all free printables I share, these are for personal use only :) Thanks!

sponsorship spots

I am so excited to offer sponsorship spots here at The Creative Place blog!

I began this blog almost three years ago to share crafty goodness, tutorials, recipes, and little snippets from my family and my faith. Since then, it has grown tremendously. Go here to see some of my FAQs and to get a feel of what I'm all about with this blog :)

I love, love, love sharing DIY projects, crafty goodness, recipes, other inspiration, and little glimpses of my family and faith.  I post 4-5 times a week (weekdays). I share DIY projects that are easy to create on a budget and with easily found and inexpensive materials. The Creative Place blog was named one of Babble.com's Top 50 Mom Craft Blogs of 2011 and many of my tutorials have been featured on bigger blogs including Sew, Mama, Sew!, How About Orange, Tipjunkie, Everything Etsy, Mod Podge Rocks, and many more.

Currently, this blog receives about 50,000+ visitors per month, with an average of 95,000-125,000 pageviews per month. RSS followers, FB followers, and email subscriptions are 4200+ and "Members" (Google Friend Connect) on this blog are 1700+.  All of these make The Creative Place an excellent advertising opportunity for your business or blog :)

The sponsorship spots will begin March 1, 2012. The price for a sponsorship spot at this time is $25/month, payable through paypal. This includes a static ad with dimensions of 220px x 110px that will be located on the right sidebar (directly below the "Find Me Here" flags) of this blog. Also available are spots to advertise within a post (at the bottom of the post), which are visible to RSS and email subscriptions. The price for a one-time post advertisement is $10. If you are interested in sponsoring, have questions, or would like more information, please email me at thecreativeplace(at)gmail(dot)com. I reserve the right to refuse a sponsorship spot if I do not feel it is in line with this blog.

Sponsoring a giveaway:
If you have a shop that sells products that relate to feel of this blog (paper, fabric, craft, supplies) and are interested in sponsoring a giveaway of a product from your shop or site, please email me for more information.

Thank you for your support and for reading this blog :)

*Image background is from Oh, Hello Friend - 

downloadable vintage backgrounds available here.

Food: Super Quick Cinnamon Rolls

I came across a recipe for "fastest ever" cinnamon rolls via pinterest awhile back and tried it recently. I was skeptical at first, as it didn't call for yeast in the dough. My, oh my, was I wrong. These are the BEST and fastest cinnamon rolls I've ever made. So, so good. SO good.

Super Quick Cinnamon Rolls - adapted slightly from Lick the Bowl Good
Dough:
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup cottage cheese
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Filling:
1-1/2 Tbsp. butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup pecans, finely chopped

Combine the milk and lemon juice and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Combine the milk mixture, cottage cheese, butter and vanilla extract in a food processor and process about 10 seconds, until smooth. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Add mixture to milk mixture in the food processor. Process until a soft dough forms, about 10-20 pulses. The dough will be sticky. Do NOT over-process.

Place dough onto a lightly floured working surface and roll out to a 12"x15" rectangle. Top with melted butter. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Spread evenly over buttered dough.

Starting with the long edge, roll up the dough, jelly-roll style. Cut the roll into 12 equal pieces. Place in a round, greased cake pan. Don't worry if the edges touch. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and let rolls rest 10 minutes while oven preheats.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops are beginning to brown. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes.

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp. cold milk (or enough to create desired glaze consistency)

Combine all glaze ingredients and mix well. Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls and serve. Enjoy! :)

a few of my fave books

I am a huge lover of books. I love books. There is nothing like holding a printed book in your hands. I do not have a reading tablet at this point- but I am pretty sure that if I ever do, I will still love to collect actual books :)

I'm sure tablets are great because you can store all your books in one place, take it with you on trips, and not have to drag a whole reusable grocery bag full of books with you (I'm guilty of this ;)). But man, there is nothing like flipping through crisp pages, looking at the pictures and text, and smelling the ink on the page (Weird, I know. I LOVE smelling new books ;)). Maybe it's because I love paper so much :)

The books sit behind my computer on my desk. Always at an arm's reach if I am working and need to look something up, find inspiration, etc.

What about you? Do you have a tablet to read on? Do you love it? Do you love having books too or not so much?

a day off.

enjoying an unexpected day off with my hubby today :) thankful for a man who works so hard and thankful that he rearranged his super full schedule to be able to have a whole day with our sweet family today. enjoying lunch out and then a trip to the park. have a fabulous day! :)

love.

celebrating my love and my loved ones today. love to celebrate them everyday, but I think it's fun to have a special day set aside ;) happy valentine's day to you and yours. hug them extra today, tell them you love them and be thankful for those you love :)

Print by eva black design. 

You can download this lovely free print over at her blog.

a valentine for my love

I finished up my Valentine for my hubby this morning and am SO excited to give it to him tomorrow (I had to tell him not to look at my blog today :)). It's a bunch of little goodies put into one card or I guess you could say, a little album. I love it. :)

I cut an 8.5"x11" sheet of Kraft cardstock in half to 5.5"x8.5"and adhered them together (with a 1/2" overlap) so that it was one long sheet of paper. I then scored every 4 inches to create the "pages", and was left with a 1/2" fold to be able to close it up. I attached some baker's twine with an eyelet to also help close it up, and then went to town decorating using different bits and pieces.

I used a paper bag envelope to put a note in, as well as a giftcard. I also put a "book" onto one of the panels and made it a coupon book for different fun things, like cooking or getting carry-out of his fave meal. I perforated each page in the coupon book so he could tear them out to use. 

I of course, had to add some confetti somewhere, so I used a glassine envelope and put in some confetti and a little card.

Food: Katie's Scotcheroos

These are my mother-in-law's recipe- they are a fabulous dessert bar. They are super rich, so I don't make them unless we are having friends over or going to a get-together (because I'd probably eat them all. By myself. ;)). They are quick to make and make a bunch, so they are perfect for sharing :) Or not. :)

Katie's Scotcheroos
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
5½ cups Rice Krispies
1-6oz. pkg. chocolate morsels
1-6oz. pkg. butterscotch morsels

Combine sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until mixture begins to bubble. remove from heat, stir in peanut butter. Mix well.

Pour over Rice Krispies and stir well until coated. Press mixture into a buttered pan.

For frosting, melt chocolate and butterscotch morsels over low heat, stirring constantly. Spread over Rice Krispies. Cool until firm Cut into bars.

working on.

Valentine Card Roundup

A lovely round-up of handmade Valentine Cards I found on etsy. So if you aren't into making your own, or don't have time, you can still give (and support!) handmade. 

Also, for some freebies, check out my Valentine Board on Pinterest for some links to printable Valentine Cards and coupons.

Je T'aime Letterpress Card by ParrottDesignStudio

 Valentine Card - Tiny Envelopes by LemonDropPapers

 Happy Valentine's Day Card by k8cards

 Nickname Valentine Card by evajuliet

Be My Valentine Card by AshleyPahl

I Love You Valentine Card by RowHouse14

You Are My Cup of Tea by TheWallaroo

a few faves

Happy Monday! I hope you had a lovely weekend :) For today, a few faves I'm currently loving :)

1. Organic Cotton Striped Green Ribbon from ShopKStudio
2. Strawberry Scallop Mix Adhesive Labels by twogirlzstuff
3. Adhesive Fabric Tape from DobleEle
4. Popsicle Mini Inspiration Kit by rainecloudaustralia
5. Art Journal Paper Ephemera Pack by badhausfrau
6. Wristlet Clutch Meadow Flower by AppleWhite
7. Pick Your Own Vintage Sheet Fat Quarter Bundle from PinkFawnDesigns
8. Valentine Ornament by Bozenawojtaszek
9. Fire King Cups Primrose Pattern from BellaCasella
10. Ruffle Lace Camera Strap Cover by RosellasLane6.
11. The Modern Button Necklace No. 7 by NestPrettyThingsShop

still playing catch up.

still playing catch up :) filling and shipping orders and working on the new mini books.  excited to share them, but will probably be early next week :) 

paper rounds: available here.

now in the shop.

I listed some Valentine Scrap Paper Packs and some Heart Paper Punches to the shop this morning. The scrap papers are from the Valentine journals and would be great to add to a scrapbook or card for that special someone this Valentine's Day. The packs include 25 pieces of paper-- scrapbooking papers (double-sided), vintage dictionary pages, vintage sheet music, decorative wax paper, vellum and transparency material.

The heart paper punches would be perfect to make this card, decorate a journal or scrapbook for a loved one, or even sprinkle them on the table for your Valentine's Day meal!

Ok. That's all the shop news for awhile (except when I let you know about these cuties!), I promise ;) Let's get back to crafting and creating :)