Butterfly gift sack + cards...

Another project share using the Gossamer Blue March kits.  Today I have a coordinating trio which includes a gift sack with gift card and two small square cards. 

For the gift sack I started with a Large Brown Paper Sack then tied on a pretty peach ribbon. 

Tied onto the ribbon is a Small White Tag that I brushed with a little watercolor. For the little card I created a small fold over version embellished with an index card brushed with the gold ink from this month's kit, a Small Manila Parcel Tag, a punched butterfly with watercolor, gold stitching + sequins and the wood dots from this month's kit. I used the gold and shimmer ribbon snippet from a little leftover from this month's kits too.

The card is meant to be slipped over the ribbon as a gift enclosure card.  A message can be written inside.

The two square cards were made just the same as my small card. 

Love little finishing details like the watercolor, gold stitching, sequins and messy bundle of threads.  I typed the sentiment using my vintage typewriter. 

Enjoy this glorious day! I'll be back soon with sneak peeks of my projects made from the April Gossamer Blue kits.  

Gossamer Blue March Project Sneak Peeks...

It's almost time for the March release at Gossamer Blue.  This month is filled with colorful and fresh new product..just what I'm needing about this time of year when it's gloomy outside and I'm longing for  Spring.  I shared some of my favorite products from each kit over in the GB forums earlier and today I'm sharing some peeks at some of my finished projects I created with the kits. 

Starting with Project Life/Life Pages, loved using lots of bits and pieces to create a main, dated insert for my Week 7. Small manila tag is from my shop.  The little circle stamp highlighting the dates is a letter "o" from a small, wood Hero Arts alphabet set. 

I used stamps from the kits to stamp right onto my photo.  One of my favorite products for Project Life is little sticky notes.  There's a fun set in the kits this month. 

Another example of stamping directly onto the photo.  Lots of foodie stamps this month. 

Lots of fun journaling and filler cards this month.  Here I added two small square photos and some fun embellishments + more stamping. 

Here's a 3 x 4 journaling card with lots of stickers added along with my typewriter journaling.  I made a  tab from two stickers placed back to back and then stapled for a smaller insert. 

I created lots of cards this month too because the embellishments and papers are fabulous.  Here I used a new mini typewriter Instagram that I'll be adding to my shop soon.  I layered my set of cards with ledger paper from my stash, fun patterned papers in greens, a fun new wood product and small embellishments.  Cards with office themed products are always a favorite for me.

Look at these gorgeous papers.  So beautiful when used as collages on cards.  Here I used stamps from the kits for some whimsical cards.

Some fancy little cards with die cut butterflies, layers of office supplies, messy string bundles, stitching and more. I'll be sharing blog posts for each set of cards...this one will include a fun packaging idea using Kraft sacks.

A favorite thing I like to do is take all the little leftover bits and pieces from kits and add them to cards.  This month, I'll show you how I started these cards from scratch. See those scalloped pieces?  Those are die cut from wood.  Better snatch this kit up quickly as it was a favorite for me.

Last but not least, I was inspired by this pink fluffy ribbon in one of the kits.  I used it to create some gift packaging along with a Pink Flower Mini Instagram and lots of bits and pieces from the kits.

Hope you'll join us on March 1st over at Gossamer Blue.  The kits will be for sale and all of the Design Team projects will be in the galleries.  Also, there's a new blog post on the Gossamer Blue blog daily so be sure to stop by for more inspiring Design Team projects.  

Snowfall Kit Packaging

If you're like me, sometimes you just need a few fancy packaging ideas.  Not just the regular gift sack or rolled wrapping paper but something special for that someone special.  My Snowfall Kits might just do the trick for you. In the kits you'll find everything you need to complete 5 special gift sacks.  All you need is some white spray mist or white spray paint, baker's twine, adhesive,a stapler and some ribbon.  

 Here's a really quick and easy idea for assembling the Snowfall Kit sacks.  These are not hard at all...you'll do some misting and easily assembly.  First up, take the sacks and place them in a safe area to spray.  I use a box with layers of packing material inside.  Use the vintage snowflake included in the kit as a mask.  Spray the white mist or spray paint over the snowflake.

 Move it around a few times and you'll have the most beautiful snowflake patterns.  I did mine three times, concentrating the mist on the center of the snowflake.  Once you're done you can use the snowflake as a decoration or hang it on the tree.  Let the sacks dry for a bit.

 Next divide the snowflake confetti mix between the small zipper sacks, about a scant teaspoon in each one will do the trick.

 Then fold the paper doilies in half.  Use a strip of adhesive to adhere the confetti sacks to the doilies as shown.  Stamp a sentiment on the tags.  I'm using my friend Heather's Papertrey stamp set called Rustic Wreath.  Staple the floral sprigs to the tags (mine are different from the kit).

 Lightly adhere the tags at an angle to the doilies then adhere the doilies to the front of the sacks using just a tiny strip of adhesive.  Tie a long length of ribbon around each sack.  Tip:  Cut a piece of cardboard to fit just inside the width of the sack.  This helps keeps the sacks stable when tying on the ribbon.  Tie a knot in the ribbon.

Then finish tying all the bows.  Leave the ribbon tails long and cut at an angle.

 In no time at all you'll have all of your gift sacks ready to be filled.  They're so soft and pretty and wintry looking.

 I used baker's twine to tie on two jolly jingle bells to each sack.  Love that frosty look.

 Oh, the snowflake pattern.  My favorite part. You could also do this on large sheets of Kraft paper and use as wrapping paper.

 The sequin mix has just a little fluffy snow in it to resemble frosty snowflakes.

 So beautiful.  So pretty for that special someone.

 I plan to tuck in a few cards with envelopes and give these to our school secretaries.  I usually have a special, homemade little treat to sit on top of the sacks too.

Hope you enjoy and are inspired to give out just a few special gifts this year.  Thanks for stopping by.

Coming soon, I'll be sharing the next completed pages of my December Memories album and more holiday happenings around our house.

2013 Holiday Planners

Last week I had a fun crafting day with a friend.  We love to make notebooks together to give out to family and friends.  We worked on 2013 Holiday Planners, something I particularly love to create each year. 

We used papers and embellishments from Crate Paper's Bundle Up collection.

Buttons, enamel dots, twine and little tidbits were sprinkled on here and there.  The sentiments were from Avery Elle's Winter Wreath set.  The "making a list" stamp was from Gossamer Blue's 2013 December Memories Kit.

I create my notebooks with 2 Papertrey Ink lined notepads.  For the covers, I score and wrap cardstock around the front and back so that I create a booklet of sorts. No measuring, just marking lines as I go with my thumbnail, then I trim and/or score.  This little notebook is the one I kept for myself.  The circle stamp is from Papertrey Ink and I used a 1.75" circle punch to punch out the image.

You know those large chipboard sheets you see but you might hesitate to use them because they're bulky and dimensional?  They're perfect for notebooks.  I love the 3-dimensional look.

For packaging I use Large Kraft Sacks and Medium Manila Parcel Tags with more of the Crate Paper patterned paper and Avery Elle stamps.  

Such fun little gifts for making shopping lists for the holiday season.  I plan to tuck in a wrapped candy bar and candy cane, tied up with more baker's twine.  Enjoy!

A few new items are trickling into my shop, including some vintage storage items + these fun mini Instagram photos.  I plan to use them on gift tags and cards and will have some ideas here on the blog soon.  I also have a fun snowflake packaging kit and woodland deer kit coming soon.  

Cottage Card Kit Creations...

This post is very photo heavy so I'll try to keep the chit chat short.  I recently had these Cottage Card Kits in my shop.  I promised to show you lots of tips and tricks so here we go.  Here's what the kit looks like. If you missed ordering a kit but want to play along, just grab some items from your stash.  Items like the mini floral Instagrams, tags, clothespins, doilies and sacks are available as individual items in my shop.  

Envelope Liners...

It's very easy to create an envelope line for any size envelope. Simply trace the envelope flap onto the liner material using a pencil. Here I used the vintage book page from the kit.  

 Trim with scissors and insert the liner piece into the envelope.  Scoot the liner down enough to have the lickable adhesive still showing.  Use a few strips of adhesive under the top portion.  Pretty.

Embellished paper clips...

Here I used the strip of eyelet lace and a torn strip of the vintage fabric to fancy up the clips from the kit.  I used about 3" piece and looped it through the paper clips.  I secured the little flags with my Tiny Tim stapler.  

Very cute to slip onto cards, tags, sacks and more.  

Creating your own spray mists...

It's very simple to create your own spray mists.  Instead of using ink refill droppers, did you know you can use acrylic paints too for a more opaque look?  Simply fill a small spray bottle with water and drop in acrylic paints.  I used a pink and a yellow to get just the pink tone I was after.  Shake the bottle and spray onto scrap paper until the mist appears. 

 You can use your new mist with stencils like I did on the sack with a Pink Paislee stencil.  Or you can unscrew the lid and flick paint splatters like I did on the tag, coin envelope and grid paper.  Customized colors using supplies you might already having sitting around...awesome.

Painting with Gesso...

Gesso, one of my new favorite things. Here I put a small dab of Gesso in a dish.  I added a few drops of water to make the Gesso a bit watery so I could paint with it.  

 You'll see these used on my finished projects but here are some samples of the Gesso painting.  On the yellow card I smudged on the Gesso with my finger to get a white washed look.  I painted o the polka dots with a small pointy brush.  I even sprinkled in some glitter before the circles dried to create a shimmery look.  On the small Instagram from the kit, I painted around the edges.  For the dimensional paper flower, I painted the petal tips for a shabby look.  On the book paper, I flicked some Gesso paint to create splatters.  

 Finally on the square of corrugated cardboard I cut from a box, I swiped some of the Gesso over the ridges.  Then I loaded my brush again and ran the tip of the brush over the top of the square.  I tilted the cardboard so that the paint would run down and dry in long drips.  I'll use this under a mini Instagram later.

Creating layers on your projects...

This is a hard one for some folks so I'll share what I do.  I picked a card base that I wanted to use and then I set it aside.  From the kit I picked a few more elements to layer.  I cut a piece of fabric from the larger piece.  

Then what I do is layer the pieces in my hands, not on the card base.  I start picking up the largest items then finish with the smallest items.  It's very natural to work with the layers and shift them around while in your hands instead of laying them on the base of the project (the yellow card).  

 Let's see another example.  Here I'm doing another card but I set the card base to the side.

 I gathered up the layering elements starting with the biggest item, the paper doily.  Next came the book paper, then the coin envelope then the mini Instagram.

 Here's yet another example for a gift sack I want to create.  You can see the layering elements I want to use in the little pile below.

 Gather up the largest item first which is the piece of vintage book print.  I like to use book print when layering because you can tear it easily to whatever size you want and it's thinner then cardstock or patterned paper.  You can find a batch of vintage book paper in my shop here.  I continue to pick up the next bigger item until I have all the pieces layered in my hand.

 Once I have all the layers the way I want them to look I lay them down on a flat surface.  Then I use tiny dabs of adhesive to attach each layer to the next.  You don't need a lot of adhesive, just enough to join the layers together without sliding around.

Then I find that stitching the layers together is a great way to keep all the pieces securely in place.  I like to leave the thread ends hanging also instead of trimming them short. 

 Now it's time to attach the layered piece onto your project whether it's a card, a notebook, a sack, a tag, etc.  The last finishing touch is to add a little dimensional piece.  From the kit I used the yellow flower and a small tag that I typed on.  The flat layers create interest on your project then the finishing touches add the wow factor.  This style of layering lends itself very nicely with found vintage items, tags, photos, fabric.....a great way to use up those little tidbits and scraps of patterned paper in your stash.

 Okay, wanna see the finished projects?  Here we go...

Here's a sweet notecard with a misted gift sack.

 I love the cottage, vintage feel of the Cottage Card Kit.  The floral elements combined with the office supply items like the shipping tag and index card are just my style.

 Here's another card with lots of layers, including the vintage fabric and typed vellum sentiments.  I love how the envelope coordinates now that it has the book pager liner.

Don't think you can mix and match florals?  I love how it looks, especially when the prints are vintage looking.  

 Another card which has the splattered coin envelope and fabric paper clip.  

 The quirky little patterns work well together because they are the same color value and are repeated in the mini Instagram photo.

 Here's the card that I painted with Gesso paint.  The dimensional flower makes it hard to fit into an envelope so I'm using a Kraft sack for packaging.

 You can see the glittery Gesso circles here.  I love that the Gesso paint just adds one more subtle layer to my card.  See how the layers are kind of ruffled and held in place by stitching?  I love this whimsical and light look by leaving the layers rather loose. Just lay off the adhesive a little.

One last project, a pretty gift sack with soft, vintage layers.  

I used my homemade spray mist on the sack, using the nozzle to flick on splatters of paint.  The neutral colors of the book paper, tags, doily and cardboard create a nice background for the colorful photo.  The yellow paper flower helps the yellow in the photo pop out.  

There ya have it.  Lots and lots of tips and tricks that you can try out with your Cottage Card Kit....or your own supplies if you didn't grab a kit.  I hope you enjoyed today's post.  I'd love to hear about what you might try out on your projects.  :)

Coming soon to the shop...
I have a special delivery coming later this week to create a new kit for the shop. If you like the mixed media look, this one might be for you.  If you've been wanting to add a more artistic flair to your creations, this kit might be for you.  If you've always wanted to try out some art journaling, this kit might be for you.  I can't wait to share it with you!!