Hilary Kanwischer

Charmed with a little Pink Frosting...

I love days like this when I get to post some of the things I've been working on.  I was hoping to get a lot more done, but I seem to be suffering from a cold that will just not go away.  Some days are better than others but this latest one is wreaking havoc on my body.  It's still fun to get away and retreat to my craft room though.  I live for all-nighters and coffee at midnight.  Think it's strange?  Not to me, when you consider my job at the Fire Dept and 2 kids at home.  So for me, that time is precious and I love it.  For my newest projects, I created first for Creative Charms, which is a company that has the sweetest most unique embellishments on the market.  They were kind enough to send me some of their sparkly butterflies, sequin flowers, gem stickers, sparkle flowers, and garden brads and I decided on a project that would be perfect for Spring.  I took a wooden block, decopaged some papers to it, added a little white picket fence, then covered it with all those sweet embellishments.  For the top, I added moss, a wooden birdhouse, and a little red cardinel.  I hope you enjoy. :)

And next, I am beyond thrilled to be a part of  Frost it Pink, and Amy, (the owner), sent me this wonderful kit with papers and bingo cards from Jenni Bowlin, chipboard butterflies from K&Company, buttons, rub-ons from Melissa Frances, acrylic paint and glitter from Doodlebug, tons of gorgeous ribbon.  I had such a wonderful time putting together some cards for this kit and you can purchase it on her website under "Class Creations", just click the link above.  There are also some other beautiful kits to purchase from Melissa Phillips and Linda Albrecht on her site as well.  I hope you enjoy.  :)

 

And for one more little announcement, and I don't know why I do this to myself, because I feel like the bad person for only giving away one more copy of "Cards" when so many of you want it.  I'm so sorry I can only give one of you the book, but I'm soooo happy you all came to play and thankyou all for such sweet words.  The winner of the book is:  Jackie W.  !!!  Congrats Jackie, email me with your mailing address so I can get it out to you right away. 

Thankyou all so much for checking in and be sure to check back soon, I give away a lot of stuff here and you'll never know when I may throw another little contest your way.  Have a great night!!  :)

  

I am grateful...

And honored...yes that's right.  It's almost too much to take in.  I really cannot believe that I made the cover for January 2010 issue of"Cards" Magazine.  It totally blows me away.  I had even forgotten what card I had sent them when a good scrapper friend of mine told me I made the cover the first thing I thought of was, "what card did I send them?".  Anyway....as promised...I'm giving another issue away....TO YOU!!!  Do you want it?  I'd love to send it to you, BUT I only have one more available soooooo leave me a comment and just tell me that "YOU WANT IT"!  I'll pull a name and send it off to one more lucky winner on Sunday.  :) 

Good luck!!

 
I have a ton more projects to post for both Creative Charms and Frost it Pink, so be sure to check back on Sunday!!  :)  Thanks everyone. 

  

Hugs, Kisses & Sweet Treats...

I can hardly believe that Valentines Day is literally right around the corner.  I'm guilty of still having some Christmas decorations up...(not all, but some), because I just can't seem to get them down and put away.  So with another holiday creeping up like this at record speed, I'm just feeling way out of control.  :)  But I do love Valentines...I love making things that have to do with "Love".  It's such a fun time of year and there's even a chill in the air, which to me, makes it all the better.  I finally sat down last night and finished these three sweet "Hugs & Kisses" pillows from Sweetwater, and honestly...there's a reason Sweetwater remains as one of my most favorite companies.  How adorable these trio of pillows are, and the ric-rac trim???  The perfect touch for these too.  I hope you enjoy!

Sweet huh?  Love those iron-on labels too...

And for the final touch to Valentines Day, how about the cutest Valentine treat bags to send with your child to school?  I found these adorable treat toppers and gift box from Shabby Miss Jenn, sooooo easy to do too, simply download and print out.  What could be more easy, and since I'm not the type to pick up pre-packaged ones from my grocery store, (I've always gotta do things a little differently)...I just fell in love with these.  Connor and I filled the bags, I added the toppers and then he painstakingly wrote each of his classmates names at the top, trying as hard as he could to write the best he could.  Seriously, if I was 8 years old again...I'd love to see these in my Valentines box at school.  For his teacher, I just printed out the gift box template and put it together, filled it with some chocolates to let her know that she's special too.  Enjoy!

Have a great week everyone, and thanks so much for stopping by!!  ;)

 

Vintage poppies and polka dots...

As Valentines Day approaches, I'm hoping you will find yourself surrounded by the ones you love.  I love this month and it shows in the projects we make for our friends and families, (and in some cases just ourselves).  So...in keeping that in mind I'm showing you a couple more projects I made for Creative Charms, and the first is a little gift box, the perfect way to package that sweet little gift for that someone special.  The box uses the Polka Dot Valentines kit from Creative Charms.  It has everything you need to put together the most amazing projects.  To make the box, I simply painted a round paper-mache box with white acrylic paint, then distressed it.  Then it's just a matter of adhering the ribbon, and all the other little goodies, the puffed polka dot heart, the rhinestones, and the lips and heart brads.  I hope you enjoy!

 
And the second little project here is a "Love" wall hanging.  I used the Vintage Poppies Kit, for this one and who doesn't love the sound of the word "Vintage Poppies"?  I adore these sweet velvety flowers and their rich colors, and the floral gems are fast becoming one of my favorite embellishes.  To make the wall hanging, I simply took 4 wooden miniature wooden plaques, added patterned paper, (from Jenni Bowlin), then added all the fun embellishments from the kit, used glittered letters from Creative Imaginations, added a little pom-pom trim on the bottom, then wired them all together forming a wire hanger at the top.  Both of these projects were made for CHA for Creative Charms.  I hope you enjoy!

Have a wonderful week everyone, and thanks so much for stopping by!  :) 
 

Home is where you hang your heart...

Just a quick little post here on Superbowl Sunday, (go Saints)!!, but I'll post more tomorrow.  I am on my laptop this morning and I have one CHA project saved on here so I'm going to post this one, then the rest when I get home in the morning.  I made this little "Home" plaque, (which reminds me that home is the most important place), using a pre-cut wooden home, which I then decopaged papers to and added a little white wooden fence, a scalloped roof, pom-pom trim, some rope flowers from Creative Charms, some rub-ons from Melissa Frances, red ribbon, self adhering rhinestones and a small puffy heart from Creative Charms as well and it was all covered in glitter.  I hope you enjoy it. 

 
And one more teeny announcement....and my-oh-my, you all have done it to me again.  I never would've thought I would've gotten the response I did from my little contest.  I hate that I only have one extra copy of this book to give away.  I really do appreciate you all taking the time to respond and some of your responses actually brought tears to my eyes.  I wish each of you that your dreams all come true in the coming year.  I truly enjoyed reading each and every one. 

I actually chose Anna Blyth to win the copy of the "Christmas Cards"....her response was one that basically tore me up and brought back to reality what is truly important and I can only imagine what she went through over the last few years, and hope that her continued recovery remains with her and that she only grows stronger and continues a long and healthy life....

here is what she wrote:  Having just completed (28th Jan 2010) 2.5yrs of treatments for lymphoma....and now being in remission.....for 2010 my hopes and dreams are to have a wonderful, healthy and happy year.

I hate cancer....my dad passed away from it 10 years ago, so this one just tugged at my heartstrings.  Enjoy your book Anna, and email me with your address so I can get it out to you right away.  :)

Have a wonderful Superbowl Sunday everyone and may the best team, (Saints)...WIN!!  :)

 

I'm a cover girl...

I'm really not the type to brag...in fact I feel weird posting this becuase I just posted it to Facebook too, but I'm just sooooo excited about it.  I never would've thought in a million years I would grace the cover of Scrapbook Trends special "Christmas Card" issue.  It's my first cover from them and I'm really beyond thrilled.  There are soooo many beautiful cards in this issue that I think are "cover" worthy, it's almost hard to accept.  Does anyone not have this issue?  Would you like it?  I mean I know Christmas has come and gone, but you can never start too early with next years cards, so I'm giving this issue away.  Just leave a comment below and answer a simple question, I'll pick a name from all the comments and it's yours.  Here's the question:  What is your one dream for 2010?  Pretty simple huh?  Here's my answer.  I'm really hoping this is the year I make my move to Vermont.  Pretty simple, nothing more, that's all I really want and could ever hope for.  

Good luck everyone!!

have a wonderful day and I'll pick a winner in a couple of days.