Yes, I usually have a clean and simple card for you on Saturday but since I made one on Thursday and I am so excited to share this that I thought I would change things up a bit!

I have to admit, I don't really think of myself as 'crafty' in a 3-D kind of way and I have always thought glue guns were my nemesis. That said, this project REALLY surprised me with how easy it was and how quickly it came together!

The history...as you read this I will be enjoying a wonderful retreat with other Stampin' Up! demonstrators, many of whom are also fellow Pals and fellow down line of the truly AMAZING Mary Fish. I can't wait to meet with them all. I am so excited to be a part of the energy and knowledge that will be surrounding me and I will be soaking it all in and hopefully come home with renewed excitement and tons of great ideas. Can you tell I'm looking forward to it?!?

I will be meeting two of my fellow Pals who are also attending the retreat in Phoenix and we will be carpooling for the short drive to Tucson. How fun to get the party started early!

I thought and thought about how I could show my appreciation in a way that was not a card...remember, I'm 3-D challenged :) Then I came across this awesome idea from Jen Timko. I changed it up just a bit because I wanted to try out my new Spiral Flower original die:

How about that spiral flower????? So amazing and easy and FUN!! Really! I was so surprised and pleased I was actually giddy :) Here's a view of the flowers from the other side:

Honestly, these are my first three spiraled flowers! So if I can do it, ANYONE can! lol

Here's a picture of the second treat container in Strawberry Slush:

Isn't this color just delicious?! Oh yes, let's not forget the yummy chocolates inside that a perfect for a little pick-me-up after a long day of learning and sharing! And I did manage to save some of the yummy Sea-Salt Caramel Dark Chocolate Dove Squares to put in these treat containers...mmm...I only had one or two (promise) lol.

I used matching cardstock for the gift tag and stamped the image from Chalk Talk in Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with White embossing powder. The last step was to using the matching Chalk Talk Framelits Dies and my Big Shot to cut them out. I just love Stampin' Up!'s coordinating products! I stamped the same image in Strawberry Slush ink onto a piece of scrap Whisper White cardstock and then fussy cut it out and popped it up onto my tag with Stampin' Dimensionals (a girl's best friend).

One more peek at these fun spiral flowers:

Do you agree that pearls in the center of the flowers are a perfect finishing touch?

I loved making these and foresee many more of these little spirals flowers in my future! I really hope my wonderful Pals Linda and Peggy enjoy them. I sure did enjoy making them!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed today's project!

I will be back next week with photos and swaps to share! Woo Hoo!