Cash & Carry Challenge

I couldn't wait to make my project for Nichole's Papertrey Design Team Challenge this month. Her challenge was to design a unique way to present gift cards. I had lots and lots of sketches and finally decided upon this one below. I made a few revisions but I kept the main idea in the final projects.
My finished gift cards came out so cute, I think! I would love to get a little gift like this and I know the girls will love to see them tucked into the branches of the Christmas tree...filled with IPod cards once I actually purchase them.
I made a gift card for Josey, using the Simple Alphabet stamp set and a Spellbinder's tag die.

And one for Jordan, just changing up the buttons a bit but keeping the same overall design.

I want to show you how to make the fun candy cane striped patterned paper. I'm so into the candy cane colors this holiday season...LOVE the red and white. You can see the strips used on my cards above, just under the buttons....sticking off the edge of the cards with a fun little notch cut out to resemble ribbon.

Using the Faux Ribbon stamp set and Pure Poppy ink, stamp lines at an angle on a strip of Stamper's Select White cardstock. I have two of the line stamps placed close together on my clear grid block.

Cut the finished paper into strips and they're ready to use on your projects.

Here, I've gathered up the supplies for the gift cards....Spring Moss cardstock for the base card, Polka Dot Parade patterned paper, Swiss Dot Pure Poppy Ribbon, Foofala buttons, silver jingle bells, silver tinsel pipe cleaners, etc.

For the actual card, I created a miniature version of a pocket card. My finished cards measure 2-3/4" x 4-1/4". Start with a quarter sheet of cardstock, fold in half, and create your pocket from there. I added a piece of polka dot patterned paper to each pocket card front and then stitched around 3 sides with my sewing machine and white thread. Cut a long, skinny strip of the candy cane striped paper and fold in half. Wrap this around the front and back of the card with both ends ending up on the right. Cut little notches. Finish up the pocket cards with a pretty red bow and silver pipe cleaners. Wrap the pipe cleaners around a pen to form the curls. Tie on jingle bells with embroidery floss. Add the stamped name tags.

Below is a detailed shot of the ribbon, name tag, curled pipe cleaner and jingle bells.

And here's a shot of the big, fun buttons. I always wonder what to do with those big, honkin' buttons. Use 'em up! Once complete, the actual gift cards slide into the pocket at angle, so there is no need to untie the pretty ribbon embellishment.

Hope you enjoy my project! Be sure to check out Nichole's blog and the other designers' blogs for more great ideas. Links: Debbie Olson, Lisa Johnson, Heather Nichols, Lauren Meader. I can't wait to go blog hoppin' to check them out for myself!

Holiday tags...and those glittered snowflakes

I don't think you guys were going to let me get by the holiday season without showing you those glittered snowflakes I spoke of early on so here goes. :) Every year I make some sort of homemade Christmas gifts for neighbors. I like to make a really pretty presentation instead of just gift sacks, so I shopped early on for some fun goodies. This year I decided on a red and white, candy cane like theme. I chose red and white baker's twine from Martha Stewart, some red and white striped fabric, silver jingle bells, silver pipe cleaners and some large wooden snowflakes that I glittered using Martha Stewart snow-like glitter. For my tags, I chose to use Papertrey's 2008 Holiday Tags set. They were just the perfect accent to finish off my packages. I also printed a label for my jelly jars and then used a whimsical circle border stamp from Papertrey's Borders and Corners Circles stamp set. I used PTI Pure Poppy Ink for all my stamping, and PTI Stamper's Select White cardstock for the tags. I adhered the glitter to my painted snowflakes with the The Essential Glue Pad. Worked like a charm.

Above and below are some of my decorated boxes. These Kraft boxes were purchased from Michael's. I cut my fabric into really long strips and tied them around my boxes. I then put two jingle bells onto the pipe cleaners and twisted them around the ribbon. I then tied on my glittered snowflakes and tags. So pretty!

I tied scraps of fabric onto my jelly jars and added the tags with some baker's twine.

For this gift, I used a larger Kraft box and filled it with a jelly jar, a block of cream cheese and a roll of crackers. I was late getting my gifts out this year so Eric suggested that they would make great New Year's Eve snacks. Good plan.

Here's my rectangle boxes all fancied up. I purchased some extra boxes so I might even use these again for Valentine's Day gifts and change up the embellishments. We'll see what goodies I can conjure up for that.

Okay, that's the LAST of the holiday goodies. It's a new year and I've got lots more cookin'. Stay tuned! I know for many of you it's back to work.....the fun is over....back to the grind! I'll be thinking of you today. I have one last day with my kiddos at home before they head back to school!

Candy Cane Jar

I bought some candy canes for some Christmas projects and the girls spied them right away. So my first batch of candy canes got snatched from me! This holiday season I'm using a red and white candy cane stripe for my gift wrapping theme so I thought it would be fun to make some decorations to set out also. I love using canning jars for storage so I got out a quart jar, stuffed in some candy canes and made a cute display. Note the small jar, it's a junk store find that I filled with jingle bells and tied up with ribbon. I started out by painting the gold lid ring white and then dipped it in shimmery glitter while still wet. I cut a circle of candy cane striped fabric with pinking shears and slipped that under the lid. To decorate my jar, I used JustRite Stampers' Christmas Ensemble Borders and Centers stamp set. (Check out the buy one, get one free sale, the stamps I used are included!) The candy canes made the perfect border and the Merry Christmas sentiment finished off the center piece. I used Spellbinder's circle dies to cut out my stamped images. Papertrey polka dot ribbon in Pure Poppy was tied around the jar. I added two silver jingle bells and then finished off the ribbon with some silver tinsel pipe cleaners from my Holiday Inspiration Station. I used a fat pen to curl the pipe cleaner, LOVE THAT and will be using that idea again soon.

Inside the jar, I placed some irridescent scrunchy filler, some punched Marvy snowflakes and the candy canes.

Over the Thanksgiving break, we're cleaning the house and preparing for holiday decorations. Jordan has asked me several times now so we're making it a priority. Can't wait to set out the candy cane jar!

Project December 2012...floating items in clear pockets

I'm back today to share another page insert for my Project December.  This time I'm "floating" some items in the small pockets of a page protector.  When I first saw this die cut Santa from the October Afternoon Make it Merry collection I just loved it.  It's printed on both sides so it was just too cute to cover up.  I thought it would be the perfect time to experiment with tucking some items into clear pockets so that the pages behind could peek through and that my items would float around in the pockets.  

For the vintage Santa image I just trimmed a portion off so that it fit into the 4 x 6 pocket.  I added some of my vintage sequin/snow confetti mix + an October Afternoon button on the outside of the page protector.

Here you can see the back side of Santa with more confetti mix.

I also added more of the holiday confetti mix into a 3 x 4 slot along with some Studio Calico wood snowflakes + a candy can I made from pipe cleaners + a vintage postage stamp.

This is the back side where all the goodies still shine through.

Here is an example of what my page insert might look like.  I'll most likely have photos in some of these slots but you get the idea.  I might end up floating some of my photos and more embellishments too. I could easily slip in a small Instagram photo, add some holiday confetti and then stitch around the photo.  I just use my sewing machine and my signature red thread to close up any openings.

I'd love to hear some ideas of how you might use a floating page like this.  I think it would be fun to capture some items like our favorite Reese's trees wrappers.....perhaps you broke an ornament and could VERY carefully stitch in a few shards of the broken glass.....or a dried piece of pine from your tree.......maybe a few pieces of wrapping paper.....a few snippets of leftover fabric from a holiday dress you're making....or a quilt.....all the stamps from holiday cards you receive.  So many ideas to try, hope you enjoy!