Link Up Love Party and Getting Cricky Preview Day THREE -- Valentine Kisses!! :)

Double-Whammy Tuesday, everyone!! :)  Wait, wait...  You say it's THURSDAY???  Whoopsies!!  My post was lost in Never-Never-Land -- tee hee...  Well, I didn't want to wait any longer to show you what I've got!! :)

So why is it a Double-Whammy Tuesday Thursday???  Well, friends and fans...  It's time for another Link Up Love Party with K Andrew AND the Getting Cricky Pre-Hop Preview Day THREE...  All this week, the Getting Cricky Design Team is showcasing some of the most creative ideas they can muster for our week-long, jam-packed, fun-filled week of excitement!!  Ya see, Kristal just released FOUR more awesome, wonderful, very cool stamp sets...  But we didn't want any of our "old" favorites to be forgotten, so we challenged ourselves to come up with a handful (or half dozen) of the very best projects we could share with you this week...  At the bottom of this post, please be sure to visit my Design Team Sisters to see what they can't wait to show you too -- And be sure to check out all of our daily posts for MORE THAN 100 new projects and ideas to get the MOST out of your K Andrew Designs Stamp Sets!! :)

The Link Up Love Party (LULP) is a fun and creative way to find new blogs to follow and new friends to share...  To participate in the party, you'll want to sign up HERE and follow the guidelines...  And then...  Let the FUN begin!!  The theme this month is VALENTINES, so let's see what ya got!! :)

For Preview Day Three and the LULP, I've created these very fun Valentine Favor Boxes...

These tiny little boxes were cut with a Sizzix die that's been collecting dust in my craft room...  And since I decided that this year I need to use it or lose it, I was quick to think of something I could make to keep this fun die around!! :)  After cutting out the little boxes from a light tan cardstock, I sent them back through my BigShot with a Sizzix "Hearts and Vines" embossing folder (TIP: Should you decide to make some little embossed treat boxes, I highly recommend assembling the boxes and then DISassembling the boxes before embossing...  This will create a bit of "fold-memory" for the boxes and you won't cry over crooked folds and torn edges...  Ask me how I know....).

I distressed the embossing with some Stampin' Up! Real Red ink (because I LOVE tan and red together -- reminds me of wearing penny loafers and red pants in the 80s....  Now that's fashion!!) and re-assembled my little boxes adding a thin line of liquid glue to the itty-bitty, teensy-weensy tab on the side of the box...  HOWEVER, before closing them up, one more little goodie needed to be added....

As you can see, the paper ribbons are stamped (SU!'s Chocolate Chip) with the "kisses" and the "{heart}" found on the Owly Hoo Stamp Art Sentiment Set...  After stamping the strips, I "curled" them much like you curl curling ribbon -- by sliding the blade of my scissors along the strip (I do this on both sides)...  I can then manipulate the "ribbons" to tie and keep a curve in them (neat, huh???).  The ribbon strips were also distressed with SU!'s Real Red.

As I mentioned though, before tying the "ribbon" onto the handles, they needed something special packed inside so that I could send a few of these off the The-Girl-Child and The-Boy-Child (and maybe even The-Boy-Child's-The-Girlfriend)...  This idea comes from a memory of those two silly kiddos anyway...  Way back in the day, when they were only about 4 and 5 (and also inseparable), they found themselves in a bit of a conundrum...  One (or the other) of them had decided to make some sort of concoction involving peanut butter, bananas, footy pajamas, and an overgrown yellow lab named The-Dusty-Dog...  I think you can see where this might be going...  Seeing as most dogs like peanut butter (and The-Dusty-Dog was no exception), a tussle ensued and the only peanut butter remaining was glued to fronts (and backs and bottoms) of their footy pajamas...  These two were never quick to just give up on a plan (especially if it might possibly have involved bringing their mommy breakfast in bed before the crack of dawn), so they put their little minds together and hatched an even better plan...  I could smell them before I could see them in the darkness of the room (the discussion continues today as to how much peanut butter there REALLY was)...  But I finally managed to make out two figures with cupped hands, huge grins, and bright eyes headed towards me (realizing too late that I should have quickly thrown the really-too-big-to-fit-in-our-own-washer-comforter out of "harm's" way)...

"Oh!  What do you have for me?" I said tentatively (thinking that it was always possible that one or both of them had a frog, a fish, or some other wet and/or wiggly creature cupped between their hands)...

"We brought you THIS!" The-Girl-Child shouted as they released the surprise they held captive...

On first glance, it might have appeared to be a trick...  Or perhaps something disappearing into the dark...  But The-Boy-Child was quick to match his little sister's exuberance...  "We filled our hands with kisses, Mom!!  Don't let them get away!!"

And so, before tying the "ribbon" onto the handles, I blew plenty of (air) kisses into them and then sealed them up QUICK!! :)  I guess they're right when they say "Good things come in small packages"....

Now...  If you're ready to make some boxes full of kisses, you're gonna need the Owly Hoo Stamp Art Sentiment Set...  And the BEST way to make this set YOURS is by clicking here OR by clicking on the image below...  BUT WAIT!!  (any chance that sounds like one of the "only on tv" ads???)...

I have BIG NEWS!!  To qualify for FREE SHIPPING on your purchase during our FUN preview week and Blog Hop, be sure to enter amyfreeship at check out!!  WOWZERS!!  Maybe you'll want to grab a set for a friend too!! :)

While you're there, be sure to check out the FREE Mini sets you can select when your purchase is $25 or more too!! :)

I hope you'll take a few moments to link up YOUR Valentine project in the Link Up Love Party over at Getting Cricky...  I can't WAIT to see what you create!! :)

Until next time, I hope you'll enjoy a few more projects....