2014 Holiday Notebooks..

It's time for my 2014 Holiday Notebooks.  Each year I make a holiday themed notebook for my closest friends and family.  I totally enjoy the process of choosing specific papers and embellishments for this project.  This year I chose papers and stickers from Adrienne Looman's Gingerbread Village collection for Webster's Pages.  I think I ordered mine from Scrapbook.com. So cute and charming.  My friends will love them and have grown to look forward to them every year.  

For each notebook I included a Candy Cane clothespin and some pretty wrapping.  I'll list the supplies I used at the end of the post. 

 Each notebook has something unique to it, no two are exactly alike.

 I use Papertrey Ink lined notebooks for my notebooks.  I use two for each book.  When you open the notebook there's a notebook on each side.  I don't have specific instructions for the notebooks....I just trim my cardstock to create a cover and then adhere the notebooks inside.

 I always tells my friends that the packaging is totally re-giftable.  They can just remove the circle with their name and the packaging is good to go.

 Definitely a highlight of the crafty season, seeing all these pretties lined up in a row.  I tuck them in a basket and hand them out at a basketball game or wherever I might see my friends next.

 While preparing my Noel Notions for my holiday shop update, I was sure to keep a few of everything for myself.  When it comes time to wrap gifts, I just grab my little basket with my wrapping supplies and it's quick and easy to assemble gifts.

 I like to keep wrapping supplies in a basket at all times.  The packaging is just as pretty as the gift but it's so hard to do if you're feeling rushed.  Each one of these packages took me about five minutes to wrap.  So fun and festive.

For my packaging I used Large White Sacks.  A tip:  Trim a piece of chipboard to fit the width of the sack.  Place inside sack and this makes for a sturdy way to tie the fabric strips or any ribbon around a sack. 

I'm in love with these wrappings kits I created this season.  I created them with mason jars in mind but they totally look just as cute wrapped around a flat sack. You can see how I used a kit to wrap a jar of jelly in this post. You'll be seeing lots more in the shop with different themes.  This one is the Modern Wrappings Kit and includes all you see below.  There's 5 of everything so you get 5 different wrappings for mason jars, sacks, etc.  So for this kit, you use a fabric strip, a doily and a tag.  

 This is the Vintage Wrappings Kit.  Same idea applies, the embellishments are just a little different. You can always purchase the White Doilies and tags separately in my shop.

 For my packaging I also used the Candy Cane Baker's Twine from the shop.  It's always a staple item come holiday time.

 I usually string on a few Jolly Jingle Bells too.  These are always a great hit every season...these are running low in the shop so grab some while they last.

 My favorite Noel Notions item this season are these Candy Cane Clothespins.  I hand paint the strips then add a beautiful frost.  I love these with the notebooks and use them to clip together lists, coupons and to attach to gifts with a tag.  These are also selling quickly so add a few to your shopping cart soon.

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse at my notebooks today.  There's still lots of Noel Notions in the shop, some items are close to selling out.  Thank you so much for all of your orders so far.  Orders placed up to today will be shipping out today and tomorrow.  I hope you enjoy all of your goodies....to me there is nothing as sweet and special as a handmade holiday.  See you again soon. 

Holiday shop is open today..

My holiday shop is opening at 10am Central Time today!  It's full of my annual Noel Notions and so much more!  Happy shopping.  

Here's just a sampling of the offerings.....vintage trays and Santa mugs. 

 Vintage holiday ornaments and tin.

 Tags made from vintage ribbons.

 Jolly Jingle Bells...always a favorite.

 My personal favorite this year....Candy Cane Clothespins.

 A woodland themed wrappings kit...

 A vintage mix of sequins.

 Cute wrappings for mason jars and more.

I've got a little something for everyone.  Here's a sampling of how I used some of the wrappings kits.  

I truly believe a handmade holiday is best.  I get so much enjoyment from creating handmade gifts.  I hope you find something you like too.  Enjoy!

Holiday Wrappings...pocket with tag

It's time to start thinking about your holiday wrapping. This year my theme is going to be a simple Kraft wrap of small sacks or from a roll of Kraft butcher type paper. With this I'm going to pair the color red and whatever else pops up.

Today I have a little sampling of a brown paper sack pocket with an embellished tag. These little sacks will be used to hold small, stamped notecards....a few candies.....a homemade treat...or perhaps a gift card. I love having these types of holiday wrappings made up and ready to use come December. How about a little tutorial on how I made it?
Supply List:

Small Manila Parcel Tag

Medium Manila Parcel Tag

Mini Wooden Spools

Candy Cane Clothespin if you got some from my NOEL Notions...or Mini Clothespin...or Small Clothespin

Brown Paper Sacks

baker's twine.....I have this one in the shop

Jolly Jingle Bells if you got some from my NOEL Notions...or plain jingle bells

Patterned paper...I used a sheet from the Basic Grey 6 x 6 Picadilly pad

thick cotton twine

holiday stamp...I used an Ali Edwards stamp from Technique Tuesday

dimensional sticker....I used a Martha Stewart star sticker from Michael's

white spray mist.....I used Studio Calico's Mister Huey in white

white buttons

Scor-Tape

For the embellished mini wooden spools, cut strips of patterned paper to fit the spool. Back with 1/4" Scor-Tape. Cut strips to about 1-1/4"long, remove adhesive backing and wrap around the spool. I burnished the end of the strip really well so that it doesn't peel up.
For the tag assembly, check out the first photo. Cut a notch in the small tag to create a little flag, then stamp the image in red ink. For the medium tag, apply adhesive to the tag then stick it on the patterned paper. Cut around the tag and punch a new hole. The two tags will layer together like you see below.

To create the jingle bell wreath embellishment, string two bells, two buttons and one mini wooden spool onto baker's twine like shown below. Tie up the two ends of the baker's twine to form a circle, leaving big loopy bows and long strings. String the cotton twine through both tags and tie off. Using an additional piece of baker's twine, tie the little wreath to the cotton twine. Attack small star sticker to the tag.

For brown paper pocket, fold sack in half and stitch around three sides. Splatter with white mist. Attach gift tag to brown paper pocket with clothespin.
And there ya go, a cute little pocket all ready for some holiday goodies. Enjoy!
Note: The candy cane clothespins and jolly jingle bells are sold out and will not be offered again this season.

Holiday Journals/December Daily update

I'm working today to take photos and get my blog posts ready. I'll have 3 separate posts, dividing up the pages + I'll explain how I'll be using my journal this holiday season. I'm hoping to have the first post up tomorrow or Sunday, depending on the family happenings around here this weekend. :)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.....and let's remember our brave veterans on this Veteran's Day. The freedoms we have in our wonderful country and throughout the world should not be taken for granted. Somebody fought for you. Somebody died for you. When I think that we can drive clear across our nation and go wherever we want and do whatever we want, I always stop to remember how lucky we are to live where we do. Thank you to all our veterans!

2011 Holiday Tags

Edited for questions: Yes, the Front and Center die does fit through the Cuttlebug. It's sized just large enough to fit through. The vintage jingle bells I use on my projects are hand made by me. I will be offering them up in my Etsy shop under my Noel Notions creations very soon.

Today I'm mixing it up with a whimsical project created for Papertrey's second Group Post for this month. The team is featuring 2011 Holiday Tags and Wonderful Words: Holidays + the coordinating word dies. I also used the new Front & Center #1 die. Our assignment was to create a tag & card using a combination of both the new sets.

I used all the products to create a tag and card with coordinating pocket.....all within one project. The patterned papers are from Crate Paper's 2010 holiday collection.
Let me show you a break down of all the pieces and parts. First up I created a pocket to hold an A2 size card using the Front & Center #1 die. I'm telling you, I love this die and I know you will too. I die cut two pieces of the yellow polka dot patterned paper, trimmed off the bottom and then stitched around three sides to create a pocket. I embellished the card pocket with a bundle of loopy ribbon, jingle bells, a green ornament and red and white baker's twine.
Here's the tag portion of my project made from the Tag Sale #5 five, another new favorite die of mine. I topped it with a *merry* die cut word from the Wonderful Words: Holiday die collection. I saved the die cut oval that comes from the main Front & Center #1 die. It's the perfect little accent to add a stamped word to. A glittered clothespin was added for some bling along with some machine stitching.
Another fun accent on my card pocket is a second pocket made from an Aqua Chevron Bag from my shop. I adhered it to the pocket front before stitching, trimmed about 1" off and then did my stitching. I love the pocket on top of a pocket...so many fun places to tuck in little tags. I used another oval on the bag front with a stamped holiday image.
And here is my simple card that slips into the card pocket. It's made up of 3 stamped tags from the 2011 Holiday Tags stamp set, with stitching on two of the tags.
All of my little pieces make a perfect little gift because you have a card + a tag + a gift pocket all in one. Add in a gift card, a candy bar or some other fairly flat goody and you're good to go. Hope you enjoy!! I think we'll make up a bunch of these for the girls' friends at school....or maybe teacher gifts. They're just so fun to make!
Please visit the rest of the Papertrey team to see their creative takes on today's featured products.

• Nichole Heady
• Heather Nichols
• Dawn McVey
• Lisa Johnson
• Betsy Veldman
• Melissa Phillips
• Maile Belles
• Jessica Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Danielle Flanders

In the Meadow..

Edit: The plaid paper that I used for my projects are from The Merry Days of Christmas line from My Mind's Eye. I've had it in my paper stash for some time now so I'm not sure of the availability.

Edit: Just wanted to clarify that the clear box I used is linked up in my post. It's the box from the PTI store that is for A2 cards. The boxes that you get with your stamp sets are too wide for this die.

One of my favorite Papertrey stamp sets being released on the 15th this month is In the Meadow. It has beautifully illustrated, traditional images and dies galore. I wanted to evoke a rustic feel to my projects, as if you were taking a sleigh ride through the snowy woods while snuggled warmly with an old, plaid quilt.

One of my favorite things to do around the holidays is to give out gifts early in December...or even late November. Sometimes it's just easier to get together with an old friend or have a family gathering before all the hustle and bustle of the season starts. Today I'd like to share a few tips for creating a coordinating set of cards with matching gift tote, a perfect pre-season holiday gift.
First up is a set of 4 coordinating cards which use the In the Meadow stamp + it's coordinating dies. When creating a coordinating gift set, I like to keep some details similar on each card so they look like a matching set.

Here's what each card in the set of 4 has in common:

*I used this card sketch as a starting point for each of my cards

*each card has a heat embossed + die cut focal image

*each card has a stamped + die cut snowflake tied with brown/white baker's twine + a Vintage Button

*each card has some of the plaid patterned paper on it (from My Mind's Eye)

*each card has machine stitching with brown thread

*each card has a torn strip of woodgrain Washi tape on it

*each card has been splattered with spray mist

Using all of these elements made my stamping session go pretty smoothly. I made up four of the snowflake embellishments, cut my strips of patterned paper and die cut & embossed my 4 main images I wanted to use. From there it was all about adding specific details to each card. On this first card I used the tree die and the sleigh ride image. An additional piece of Kraft cardstock was added that was first die cut with a scalloped border die. I also used both of the dies from the In the Meadow die collection to create the drifting snow.
Here I used two deer images from the set, both heat embossed with brown powder and die cut with the coordinating dies. I also die cut another snow drift. Here I used the woodgrain Washi tape (from the American Crafts Amy Tangerine line) all along the bottom of the card....vs little torn pieces I used on the other cards. I know that I'll get a lot of use out of these deer images + dies with all the hunters in my family.
For this card I wanted to make big snow drifts so I spaced my snow drift dies far apart and added glitter to resemble glistening snow. I also added glitter to the snowflake accent to tie it in with the stamped sentiment. Love the hat and scarf whishing through the wind as the little kid sleds down the hill.
And for my last card I embossed the snowman over and over again by applying more white embossing powder right after I heat set a layer. I also used the Mat Stack 3 and the new Layerz Mat Stack 3 die being released on the 15th of this month. Small pearl accents were added around the snowman to resemble snowballs.
And here's what you've probably been waiting for, right? This is gift tote that will hold the four cards + four envelopes easily. I die cut 2 pieces of Kraft cardstock from Nichole's new Front & Center #1 die. This is genius, I tell you! I love it soooo much.
This year I am using Kraft wrapping and boxes for all my gifts + a second wrapping of either sheet music, old book paper or newspaper. All gifts and sacks will then be topped with an embellished tag with baubles and jingle bells and tied up with twine. Here I used another matching snowflake, some sheet music, a leftover strip of the plaid patterned paper and some thick, cotton twine. Tip: save the ovals that are die cut from the larger pieces. I stamped a sentiment on one and added it to the front of the gift tote with pop dots. A little snippet of the woodgrain Washi tape and some tied buttons finish off the gift tote.
The two large dies were adhered to a Clearly Creative Card Box. I used a sharp Xacto knife to trim the top off of a flat card box, then assembled the box. Using Scor-Tape I added strips to the clear box and then adhered my two die cut pieces. Presto, an instant gift box. I can't wait for Nichole to show you even more ideas for using this wonderful new die. Stay tuned because tomorrow I'll be using it again. :)
I'm pretty certain I'll be making lots more of these fun gift totes with coordinating cards. Makes you want to start crafting right now, doesn't it? Please join me as I hop on over to the other Papertrey blogs to see what they have in store for In the Meadow.

• Nichole Heady
• Heather Nichols
• Dawn McVey
• Lisa Johnson
• Betsy Veldman
• Melissa Phillips
• Maile Belles
• Jessica Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Danielle Flanders

Sparkly Holiday Sacks

Happy Friday Friends! No school today and the house got cleaned yesterday so we are home free! Feels good to hang out with my girls. My mom is having shoulder surgery today so as soon as Dad brings her home, we'll be going to their house to take care of Grandma. I have beef stew and homemade bread going right now so we can bring supper.

Before I get to my project for today, I have some fun stuff to talk about. I'm preparing to do a big holiday kick off starting next week here on the blogaroonie. I'm working out the final details but stay tuned for lots of fun kits and projects, just in time for the holidays. Also, I'll be having more Papertrey Make + Save projects soon and starting in November I'll be doing my guest designer posts for Cosmo Cricket on Saturdays. Lots of fun stuff coming up. :)

Okay, on to today's project. I have decided that holiday cards are going to be big gift items for friends and family this holiday season. I always try to come up with something new but I always come back to the cards. Everyone loves them and they are such a useful and practical gift. So I'm all about creating beautiful sacks to package the cards in.

Here we go with another version. Today I'm using lots of items from my Etsy shop so you'll be able to do a lot of one stop shopping if you want to recreate my projects. I just organized my shop so that all the products are grouped together by like items, it looks so much better and similar items are easier to find. Remember, I love to freely share my projects for you to recreate for gifts for friends, family, teachers, etc......but you do not have permission to sell my creations or tweeked versions. Just a friendly reminder. :)

My Brown Paper Sacks are the base for my gift sacks. I covered them with red and cream sheet music, oh so pretty for the holidays. I got mine from the music shop where Jordan takes her guitar lessons.
The tag for my card is the show stopper here. Using my Medium Manila Parcel Tags, I applied adhesive to the tag and placed it on the back side of the candy cane patterned paper(all patterned paper from My Mind's Eye). Then I simply cut around the tag and punched a new hole. Such a simple way to make patterned tags. I then cut a circle of patterned paper to fit on a Large White Metal Rim Tag. The felt snowflake was cut from Papertrey felt with snowflake dies and was tied with Vintage Buttons and Red Baker's Twine. Sentiment is from PTI too.
Here comes the sparklies. Using my Small Clothespins, I created some sparkly, red clippies. Oh so fun for the holiday season. I also added a Red Sparkly Sprig. I finished off the tag with a Jolly Jingle Bell and some red and white baker's twine.
For the fun, glittered clippie, let me show you how to make those. Take a Small Clothespin and adhere two strips of 1/4" Scor-Tape to the flat sides. Trim with sharp scissors. Peel off the paper backing, exposing the sticky adhesive.
Plunge the clothespins into red glitter. I'm using Martha's glitter, available at Michael's in festive, holiday colors. Press the clothespins into the glitter firmly, really making the glitter stick to the adhesive....allowing even coverage. And there you have it. Glitterfied, glorious clippies just waiting to be used on your holiday projects. Use them for notes, attaching gift cards to the tree, fun garlands...lots and lots of uses.
Wanna make it like it Mish? Here's a photo of all the goodies you'll need. I've given links above in red but here's the list again: Small Clothespins, Large White Metal Rim Tags, Red Sparkly Sprigs, Jolly Jingle Bells, Medium Manila Parcel Tags and Brown Paper Sacks. Most of my products are sold in quantities of 5 or 10 so you'll easily be able to calculate quantities needed for your projects.
The Red Sparkly Sprigs are in limited quantities today so get 'em while they're hot, folks. :)

I hope you enjoy today's project! Thanks for stopping by. And again, thanks for all your wonderful comments lately. You guys sure know how to make a girl feel good. :)