Archive for Winter/Holiday Ideas – Page 3

Good Cheer Paper Bag Gift Keeper

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

Paper Bag Gift Bag made with Good Cheer & Deck the Halls Designer PaperPaper Bag Gift Bag made with Good Cheer & Deck the Halls Designer Paper

I’d say that this paper lunch bag never looked so good!

I love the ‘rustic’ colors in the ‘Deck the Halls’ designer series paper and have used them in the color scheme of this easy ‘paper bag’ gift bag.

I have included a short photo step-by-step of how this bag was made (click images for larger view):

  1. Cut the paper down to 5 3/4 inches high.  Line the back of the paper bag with a  5 inch by 8 inch piece of Artichoke cardstock, scored at 6 inches
  2. Line the front of the bag with a 6 x 5 inch piece of Artichoke cardstock
  3. Adhere a 4 3/4 x 5 3/4 piece of designer paper to the front artichoke panel and punch half a jumbo circle
  4. Adhere a 5 3/4 and 2 1/4 piece of designer paper to the top panel and wind a 20 inch piece of hemp around the top and tie a knot
  5. Adhere the central image as shown.  Use Sticky Strip to adhere it, since it will take some abuse (opening and closing).  If you want the bag to stay shut, you can use Velcro dots.

Central Image:  I didn’t want the focal image to be too ‘white’ but I did need Santa to stand out.

  • Stamp the image on both Vanilla and on Crumb Cake.
  • Trim the Crumb Cake image around the holly (leaving at least 1/8th inch).
  • On the Vanilla image, color and cut out Santa and the reindeer.  Ahere Santa to the Crumb Cake image right over the other Santa, adhere the reindeer with Dimensionals.
  • Extra step:  I stamped an additional Santa on Vanilla and cut out only the head (down to and including the mustache) and adhere it with Dimensionals.

Enjoy the gift bag idea!

Welcome Christmas Ice Skaters

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Yes, I know… deja vu all over again!  I added the skaters and their reflection to a very similar card that I did last December.

The skaters are from the ‘Welcome Christmas’ stamp set (view it here).

I saw the reflection technique done by simply stamping a piece of acetate in ‘Going Gray’ ink and then pressing it down to transfer the image in reverse.  The gray makes a better reflection and since it isn’t permanent like the Black StazOn (like the skaters are stamped in, so you can wipe off the acetate and use it again).

To view a video on how I did the background sponging technique and masking for snow, click here.  What the video doesn’t show is that I created a second mask for the ice pond.  By sponging around the edges of the ‘pond’ mask, it creates the last truly ‘white’ area for the ice.

Sets: Scenic Season (#115354 Wood only), ‘Welcome Christmas’ (Stampin’ Up!’s Holiday Mini Catalog set).  Accessories: StazOn Black ink, Going Grey ink, Whisper White cardstock, Bashful Blue cardstock, Inks (applied with ‘Sponge Daubers’) So Saffron, Pink Pirouette, Bashful Blue, OTHER:  2 x 4 piece of acetate

Fall Stamp Festival – 5 spots left!

Sunday, September 26th, 2010

There are only 5 spots left for our Fall Rubber Stamp Festival! READ MORE now…

The cost includes the ‘Bells & Boughs’ stamp set and you will be using AWESOME new accessories including the ‘Deck the Halls’ designer series paper, Vintage brads, Chantilly crochet lace, Smooch Spritz, Distressing Essentials, pearls, rhinestones, Champagne Glass Glitter, tinsel trim, Northern Frost Decorative strip and much more!

Projects include beautiful Victorian cards, a ‘porcelain paper pin’ and a double pocket card with matching bookmarks.

Live too far?  Don’t worry, I will be sharing the projects here online after the festival is done!

‘Welcome Christmas’ Victorian Card

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Don’t you just love the Vintage look of this card!

I used some awesome new accessories such as the designer series paper “Newsprint” (with a cool musical score sheet), new crochet ribbon and Vintage buttons.

To accent the ‘antique look’ I used the new ‘Distressing Essential Kit’ which includes four fabulous ink spot colors (Tea Stain, Charcol, Mahogany and Navy), in this case, applied with sponge daubers.

And don’t forget to get a head start on your Christmas cards… make 16 cards w/envelopes… all materials, directions, etc. provided.  CLICK HERE to register for September class– my special Christmas card class is the 4th Monday of each month through November–keep an eye on my online calendar.

Set: Welcome Christmas, IB&C Page 37
118736 $27.95 (wood)
120597 $19.95 (clear)
French: Vive Noel (wood & clear)
Accessories & Measurements:

8 ½ x 5 ½ Crumb Cake
3 ¼ x 4 Basic Black cardstock
2 ½ x 2 ½ Very Vanilla (for pressing)
2 ½ x 3 ½ Very Vanilla (for oval)
2 ½ x 2 Cherry Cobbler c/s (for punching)
3 ¾ x 2 ¾ Very Vanilla (for greeting)
4 x 2 inch DSP “Newsprint” (music print)
Black StazOn™, Brads ‘Antique’
Crochet trim Victoria 5/8”
‘Distressing Essentials’ kit
Sponge Daubers

Decorative Label XL punch (Holiday Mini)
Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder,
Sizzix die ‘Ovals’
Sizzix Big Shot, Multi-purpose platform,
clear cutting pads

Wandering Santa Card

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

This is another sample of sponge daubing a sky scene on glossy cardstock, click here to view a video on this technique.

Again, I used the ‘Scenic Season’ stamp set #115354, sponge daubers, Barely Banana and Bashful Blue inks on glossy cardstock.  Santa’s sleigh is ‘Wandering Words’ (#116507) one of the Holiday Mini Catalog sets that you can buy until January 3rd.

I don’t know if you can tell, but I tore a piece of paper to mask a ‘mountain’ line after stamping the trees in black Staz On.

The subtleness of this card isn’t easy to see from this photo… you can click on it to see a larger sample.

Sponged Landscape

Monday, December 21st, 2009


This is the first of two samples of a ‘faux horizon’ using sponge daubers and dye inks on ‘glossy’ cardstock.

With this sample, I have included a short video clip on how to do this simple, yet effective technique.

Scenic SeasonThe set used here is ‘Scenic Season’ #115354, Sponge daubers and Barely Banana, Blush Blossom and Bashful Blue inks and glossy cardstock.

You can’t tell from the photo but the horizon line was done with glitter.  Enjoy the video, and feel free to leave feedback!

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Categories : blog, Christmas, Video

Top Note Christmas Gift Bag

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Top Note Gift BagGift Bag Detail

This easy (and small) gift bag is actually two quarter sheets of Real Red cardstock cut with the Sizzix die ‘Top Note’ attached to both sides of a tiny brown paper bag (that was cut down to 3 inches high).

The oval ‘handle’s is the large Oval punch and a simple knot of wide grosgrain ribbon (red) holds it shut.  The designer paper front is from the Merry Moments pack (one of my holiday favorites this year).  The vanilla stripe across the middle is a narrow strip of vanilla cardstock.  The greeting is a new stamp set called “Sweet Season” on page 29 of Stampin’ Up!’s 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog.

These are perfect for holding a gift card or small item–no wrapping required!

116471 Sweet Season (set of 4), $18.95
113463 Sizzix ‘Stampin’ Up! exclusive’ Top Note die, $21.95
115672 Merry Moments Designer Series Paper, $9.95 (12 two-sided sheets)
102482 Real Red cardstock (each sheet makes two bags), $7.95 (24 sheets)

‘Sweet Season’ stamp set below (click photo for actual size):

SweetSeason

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Good Cheer Tri-Fold Christmas Card

Monday, November 30th, 2009

GoodCheerDetail of fold - click for larger image

This simple Christmas card uses the beauty of the ‘vintage’ style Santa which required very little coloring to be WOW!  Two thumbs WAY up for the Stampin’ Up! artist who designed this stamp set.

I like this ‘alternative’ to the regular fold in half card, but it is still just half a piece of cardstock.  I cut the Garden Green cardstock at 4 1/4 x 11 and scored it at 2 3/8 and 7 5/8 with the larger flap on the bottom.  The bottom panel is Very Vanilla press with the Finial embossing folder for our Sizzix Big Shot.  Awesome folder that I overuse!  The top is my favorite Christmas designer series paper ‘Merry Moments’.

Today is the last day for Stampin’ Up!’s online special. Click here to check it out!  All online orders received this month will recieve a special gift from me… and orders $50+ will earn my online buying special.


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