Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Holiday Tin Lunchbox Organizer





A few years back, the little tin lunchboxes from Provocraft were all the rage.  Well, I still have a little "stash" even though Provocraft no longer makes them.  This designer paper is the Jolly Holiday DSP from last Christmas, and I just love the rich colors!  Cherry Cobbler is my all time favorite, anyways, so anything with that color in it is one I've gotta have!
For this little tin, I covered the outside with paper, the top and inside of the lid, and made six dividers for the inside -- perfect to organize holiday recipes, coupons, receipts, or gift and Christmas card lists.
The flower on the front is made using the Flower Folds die -- LOVE that die -- well worth it's expensive price as I have made dozens of gorgeous projects with it -- unlike some other dies I've purchased (pop-up cake die anyone?), and hardly ever used... 
I stamped the dividers using Baroque Motifs stamp set -- another favorite of mine.  So easy, but makes the ensemble so elegant....
That's all for now!  Trying diligently to complete my Christmas cards without TOTALLY neglecting my blog...
Happy Holidays to you and yours!


Thursday, November 17, 2011

Dasher in the Spotlight!



The little "Dasher" a la carte stamp, is such a darling stamp!  I just love his fancy antlers and prancing step.  Anything you make with him has a touch of elegance!  This card is one we will be making at "Lisa's Fabulous Crafty Christmas Party" coming up on Dec 2nd.  It is a simple design, perfect for new stampers, but has "step up" options for those who like to take it up a notch!  Add the Champagne glass glitter around the border using the Multipurpose Liquid Glue -- the stuff with the green lid.  And add a "spotlight" around his feet by punching an oval out of a sticky note using the large oval punch -- place the sticky note over the stamped Dasher image, centering the punched out space over his feet.  Hold in place and use a sponge dauber to add ink to sponge ink onto the oval space.  When you remove the sticky note, you have a nice "spotlight" where Dasher is standing.  Add some bling by outlining the oval with the "glue with the green lid", and sprinkling Champagne glass glitter over. 
The sentiment is stamped with the "Petite Pairs" stamp set -- this set is so versatile! and I love how there is a sentiment for the outside of the card AND one for the inside -- there's "Merry Christmas" on the outside of this card, "and a Happy, Joyful, Bright New Year" stamped on the inside.  How cool is that!  This set is only $20.95 in the clear mount option, and comes with 18 stamps! -- birthday, thank you, sympathy, Christmas, thinking of you, baby, etc!  LOVE this set.
For even MORE bling, I colored some of our Basic Rhinestones red with my red Sharpie and added them for his red nose and some "antler candy".  The Designer Paper used here is the Brights Collection Paper stack.  This paper is double sided, so you can go with the stripes, OR the elegant flourish design to make two unique cards.
Supplies:
Card stock: Real Red, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Brights Paper stack DSP
Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Punches: Word Window, Modern Label, Large Oval
Accessories: Big Shot with the Scallop Circle #2 die and the 3" circle die, retired Early Espresso 5/8" satin ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Red Sharpie, Multipurpose glue, Champagne glass glitter
Happy Creating, and give little Dasher a try, if you haven't already!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Moonlit Trees Christmas card

Here is the final Christmas card we made yesterday at my Christmas Card Stamp-a-stack.  I just LOVE the moonlit trees effect -- so simple, yet so elegant.
I used the Top Note die to cut out a glossy white panel for the front, as glossy paper works best for this technique.   This is, of course, the good ole Lovely as a Tree stamp set that's been around since SU was born.  For the card on the left, I stamped the first row of trees in Island Indigo ink, then moved the stamp slightly to the right and down and stamped again to make the second, slightly lighter row of trees.  I then punched a 1 1/4" circle from a sticky note -- placed the circle over the tips of the trees, and used a stipple brush to apply Marina Mist ink to the tops of the trees -- just dab your brush on your ink pad, and then onto your glossy white panel with a straight up and down motion. 
To make the frosted look around the outside edges of the card, I used the Frost White Shimmer paint and a sponge dauber and brushed the paint all around the outside edges.  It gives it such a wintery look, and so easy to achieve! 
For the final sparkly touch, I used my two-way glue pen to apply lots of Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the edges of the trees and the "snow" at the bottom of the card.  In real life, this card is super sparkly!  And, that's pretty much it! an easy Christmas card with lots of "wow".
Supplies:
Card Stock: Glossy white, Island Indigo
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree
Ink: Island Indigo, Marina Mist
Accessories: Big Shot and Top Note Die, Polka dotted embossing folder, white organdy ribbon, White Frost shimmer paint, dazzling diamonds glitter

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Stylish Poinsettias

What would Christmas be without a gorgeous poinsettia to complete your holiday decor!  Come to my Christmas Card SAS later this month to make your own stunning Poinsettia Christmas cards!  You can choose which style you would like to make -- the one on the left uses the Blossom Petals Punch to punch out the petals, and the one on the right uses the five petal flower punch -- punch two of them and layer them together to create this stunning little poinsettia.  Of course, I added a small silver glitter paper punch to the centers using one of the Itty Bitty punch pack punches and some rhinestones colored red with my trusty red Sharpie for the centers.  Just adds that little extra bling.  That gorgeous black flocked background is again from the Mocha Morning Specialties paper pack.  Isn't it so elegant! Hard to see in this photo, but I took a little Champagne shimmer paint on a sponge dauber and rubbed it over the embossed background to give the card a beautiful sparkly shimmer on the embossed pattern.

Supplies:
Card stock: Cherry cobbler, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Mocha Morning Specialty dsp
Ink: Basic Black
Stamps: Teeny Tiny wishes
Accessories: Scallop Circles #2 die, 3" circle die, Blossom Petals punch, 5 petal flower punch, Itty Bitty punch pack, Basic Rhinestones

Stocking Die Christmas card

Here is another card we will be making at my Christmas card SAS on Nov 14th.  It features the Holiday Stocking Die  from the Holiday mini catalog, as well as the Mocha Morning Specialty DSP AND the Northern Frost Decorative Strip die for all those fantastic, glittery snowflakes -- cut from the silver glitter paper.  The snow flakes are a tiny bit tedious to extract from the die cut because you have to poke out all the little "bits", but the results are well worth the effort!  When cutting the stocking, lay the fold of your cardstock just under the top edge of the stocking so your card will fold at the top.  I then attached the top and heal and toe to the front of the card, and an additional cream stocking to the inside.  I embossed the front panel with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder for that elegant touch.
Such a simple card, really, but I love the way it turned out!
Supplies:
Card stock: cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, silver glitter, Mocha Morning DSP
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: Snow Swirled
Accessories: vintage wallpaper embossing folder, Holiday stocking die, Wide oval and scallop oval punch, Northern Frost decorative strip die