Valentine's Day Crafts and Snow

Happy almost Valentine's Day! Today's post is a long one, which means you might want to prepare yourself with your favorite beverage before plowing ahead. I've been a busy bee lately, crafting up a storm for Valentine's Day, classes, and volunteer gifts as well as offering a free class to 28 ladies at our annual Europe-Wide Ladies Retreat held last week. Thank goodness for friends who willingly stay up until 2 a.m. to cut cardstock and put course materials together or I would never have made it through (overflowing gratitude to Marilyn and Tasha) The unfortunate reality: I didn't take a single picture of the class or the projects I demonstrated! Sigh....these things happen but I could have kicked myself for not bringing my camera along. Back to the post at hand: the project shown above is from a box template available free on Lauren Meader's new business website and one which I made as a gift for my technique club attendees in January. I revamped the design for Valentine's Day and made 14 of these beauties for the wonderful ladies who volunteer with me at the high school student store.

The box template is the size and shape of a crayon box, perfect for dropping in Russell Stover's chocolate marshmallow hearts, or other yummy treats. The designer paper with the paper flower attached is actually a belly band that slides right off. I'm loving the new Stampin' Up! designer papers and embellishments in our current mini catalog!

Same paper set, now made into a card. I case'd this design from someone on Splitcoaststampers and I'm sorry to admit that I couldn't find the designer to give them credit. Whoever you are, thank you for a simple yet classy card design! I've really got to work on the lighting when I take my photos but sometimes it's better to take a bad picture and have something to post than no picture at all.

Jordan wanted to do goodie bags for his class for Valentine's Day but he wanted to do something unique. None of the suggestions I made seemed to appeal to him until we happened upon a project by Debbie Olson on Nichole Heady's blog that featured an airplane treat made out of a pack of gum and a matching tag. Several years ago we learned how to make candy airplanes at a Family Readiness Group meeting with Joe's unit and Jordan thought that would be the perfect "unique" treat for his class. I printed the font for the tag on Print Shop using a free Creating Keepsakes font called CK Alis Handwriting, then stamped and colored the airplane with Jordan's help. The airplane is from the retired Stampin' Up! set called Toy Box. The heart is punched from the Stampin' Up! Heart to Heart punch and leftover red cardstock scraps. I'm determined to work my way through my scraps!

Here's a close-up: Joe and Jordan ended up coloring in the airplanes for me so I could finish tying all the bags off with curling ribbon. I forgot to make room on the tag for a hole to put the ribbon through so I just attached the tag to the bag with mini Glue Dots.

A close-up of the airplane, made of one roll of Mentos, two unwrapped Lifesavers for wheels, a pack of Bubble Yum, and a rubber band to hold it all in place. We had a serious discussion on whether or not to cover the gum and mints with Valentine's Day paper but Jordan felt it would be too "girlie" and that some of the kids in his class might be "grossed out" by all the hearts and love if we got carried away. I guess girls still have cooties in the fourth grade :) The propeller was attached by pushing a paper piercer into the front of the mints to create a small hole and inserting a silver brad in to hold it. The propeller is also made from leftover red cardstock scraps and the Stampin' Up! Word Window punch. You can design a smaller version of the plane with small Doublemint or Juicy Fruit gum packs and long Tootsie Rolls for the body. Jordan will have to give these to his classmates next week since today ended up being a Snow Day and there's no school! I'm sure his classmates will enjoy them, even if they're received late.

Speaking of snow, we've had an unseasonable amount of snow this year, extremely unusual for the area of Germany we live in. You can see here that Jordan is enjoying the snow quite a bit!

"The Boys" decided to go outside and build snowmice instead of snowmen: they both play MouseHunt on Facebook and thought it would be cool to make a snowmouse representative of the mice on the game. Joe is the supposed grown-up on the right...hee, hee!

Thanks for hanging in there to the very end! I've got more projects and miscellaneous stuff to post but will spare you for the time being. Until next time....

Bigz Fancy Favor Box

In the continued spirit of using what I already have, I dug through my supplies for Designer Series Christmas Paper leftover from last year. I also had more of the felt stars left from a card I designed last year that matched the paper, which I also used on the box I featured on my blog last week. This color scheme is unorthodox for most Christmas packaging but I liked the idea of using an unusual color combination. In putting these together as gifts for my upcoming stamp club, I ended up using all but two sheets of the leftover DSP, which I'll use to put together some cards.

Here's the favor box from a different angle so that you can see a few more details. The box is a cinch to put together using the Big Shot Bigz Fancy Favor Box die. The accordion medallion is the most difficult aspect of the project but worth the extra time. I also made things easier on myself by adapting the design I used on the other box last week...I'm saving my creative juices for other projects :)

Love the glitter! My projects have been all about bling lately and this fine glitter certainly adds a bit of sparkle. I hope this sparks some creativity of your own and perhaps encourages you to dig through your own horde (you know you have one!) and be inspired with what you have already.

Christmas Packaging

Where does the time go? I can hardly believe that Christmas is almost here and that another year is drawing to a close. I've been taking time each day this week to do a little crafting in preparation for the holidays and I must say, I'm just a wee bit proud of myself for getting my projects done early. Miracles do happen! These two projects were done earlier this week in preparation for tonight's Ladies Fellowship hosted by my church. In the spirit of our current economic times, I've been rooting through all my supplies to utilize what I already have on hand and it's amazing what you can find when you "shop" in your own craft horde.

This project was created with retired Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper that I had leftover from last year's workshops. Some of you may recognize some retired In Color paper as well (I miss the Baja Breeze paper! sniff...) The felt star was picked up on clearance last year at Rofu Kinderland and are actually German felt table decorations. I apologize for the bad picture but I didn't think to photograph the box until after I'd packaged it up in the bag. Inside is an ornament for our ornament exchange tonight. I wanted some red crinkle filler for inside the bag but I was trying to be good and only use what I already had. The box was created from a template I found on Kelly Lunceford's blog and the design is very similar to a project she featured on there last week. Gotta love CASEing!

I purchased these Chinese takeout boxes while I was in the States last Christmas (10 cents a piece! What a bargain!) and thought it would make a whimsical Christmas package. I removed the handle and pinned the sides together with rhinestone brads. I then hand cut out the poinsettia from white felt and hot glued the petals, ribbon "leaves", and buttons to a felt circle base. The ribbon belly band is hot glued together with the flower hot glued to the top so it can just slide off the top of the box.

I think if I do it again, I would leave the handle on and tie ribbon pieces to the handle and then velcro the belly band together so that it could just be pulled apart to open the box. I have three more boxes so I just might try another one! Thanks for taking a peek at my latest projects :)

Cogsmo Cricket Birthday

My third posting for today: talk about overkill! I haven't posted any projects recently and thought I'd get off my lazy hiney and take some pics. I'm always looking for gift bag/card ideas, especially having a 9 year old who is always being invited to parties. Most of his friends are boys but sometimes boy themed papers are difficult to find. Utilizing the Cogsmo Cricket "Cogsmo" paper from a previous project, I threw together a matching gift bag and birthday card set for a party Jordan is going to this afternoon. I ordered a bajillion of the craft bags from Packaging Source and have been using them for every occasion, just altering them appropriately based on who the gift is for.
How can you not love this paper? The pattern reminds me of the characters in the movie "Robots"! The card took me about 10 minutes to design and throw together, with paper to spare for duplicates. Thanks for checking out my projects!
Supplies: Stampin' Up! Real Red, Bayou Blue cardstock and classic ink, SU! Toybox (retired) , Everyday Flexible Phrases (retired) and It's Your Birthday (retired) stamp sets, Cogsmo Cricket "Cogsmo" Designer 8x8" paper pack, SU! library clips and silver brads, Cricut, paper piercer/tool, white DMZ floss, window punch, foam dimensional tape, adhesive,

A Mess and a Few Projects

What a mess but a happy mess! Last Saturday I hosted a German Stampin' Up! workshop and it was a lot of fun! I've been wanting to purchase some of the German Stampin' Up! sentiment stamps since the company established itself here in Germany in 2007 but could never find a German demo until recently. This is some of the mess leftover from the workshop and my subsequent club class on Sunday. I needed to finish up some samples and figured there was no point in shlepping everything upstairs to finish it when everything was already set up in the living room. I had eleven guests, some American and some German, making extra work for the demonstrator as she had to translate between English and German, but she did a great job and I think everyone had a good time. Beate brought some terrific samples (unfortunately, I didn't take photos!) but you can visit her blog to see her handiwork.

Isn't this fantastic?! This was my hostess gift from Beate, which immediately made all of us want to make one. Beate added so many little details that made this project extra special, such as the addition of organdy ribbon and the beautifully detailed chipboard flower.

How cute is that?!!! The box coordinates perfectly with the hazelnut chocolate nuggets inside and I love how the lid fits into the box to create a display. You can visit Beate's blog to see how to make this project, however the directions are in German and the dimensions are in centimeters so be prepared to adjust your thinking if you're used to working in inches. You can also contact Beate through her blog if you're interested in ordering however, she can only ship to German addresses so you're out of luck if you live stateside!

After posting that beautiful gift box, I don't know that I want to show my meager little project! This is a simple but quick design for a lovely card that can be used for any occasion. I'm really hooked on the Close To Cocoa/Baja Breeze/Kiwi Kiss color combination, which you may have noticed since the last three projects I've posted have utilized these colors.

Here's a close-up of some of the detailing. I'm off to run errands and enjoy some of the beautiful sunshine! Have a wonderful week!

Big Shot Projects Part Two

As promised, here is part two of my recent escapades using the Big Shot. (Gasp! I know you're all in shock that I've actually remembered to blog the second part. I'm getting better little by little) Here's the horrible part: I can't remember the blog where I found the inspiration for this project! Once I find it, I'll edit the blog to include the proper credit for this project but in the meantime I thank the currently nameless person who designed this adorable box.

Part two also utilizes the Top Note Bigz Die, with two dies cut for the lid and the base. The size is such that you can create four of the same template from one standard 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of cardstock=two lids/bases for two boxes.

Here is a side view of the box, where you can see the lid lifting up. The lid is attached, similar to that of a pizza box or those gift boxes of Lifesavers you can buy during the holidays. The design can be shifted so that the box is in the portrait position as well. The free Sale-A-Bration set "Yummy" stamps perfectly within the design of the cut piece. Another marketing ploy by SU! that sucked me in!

Here's the open view, with some custom made crinkle confetti and an owl keychain I purchased for one of my stamp clubbers who loves owls. This is a terrific box for a gift card, homemade bar of soap, jewelry, or any small item.

As soon as I get past my Alzheimer's moment and remember the site where I found this idea, I'll be sure I add it as it has great step-by-step instructions on how to make this box. I have an exciting stamp set giveaway this week so be sure to log in to my blog later this week for how to win the set. Tschuss!

Supplies: SU! Certainly Celery Classic Ink, SU! Certainly Celery, textured Bashful Blue, and Kraft cardstock, SU! Delicate Dots DSP (SAB), SU! Yummy stamp set (SAB), SU! So Saffron grosgrain ribbon (SAB), Sizzix Top Note Bigz die, Big Shot die cut machine, Scor-Pal, cotton twine (Listmann's-Germany), K&Company adhesive pearls (impressrubberstamps.com), Scor-tape,

Sale-A-Bration Big Shot Projects Part One

Sale-A-Bration is here again! For those of us addicted to Stampin' Up! products, Sale-A-Bration (SAB) is our favorite time of year as it gives us an opportunity to earn crafting freebies for every $50.00 spent. In today's economy, who doesn't love freebies?! My club projects this month have focused on the free products offered during SAB, as well as my favorite new tool: the Big Shot! My wonderful husband purchased the Big Shot for me as an anniversary gift.
I'm so spoiled!

Part one of the SAB Big Shot projects this month is the adorable Thanks A Bunch gift bag, inspired by Angi Kennedy Juda Click on her name and this will link you directly to a fantastic step-by-step video tutorial on how to complete this project. You'll also notice the unusual accordion flower located on the front of the bag. You can visit my Stampin' Up! website and download the SAB catalog to view instructions on making the flower. This bag is perfect for a luncheon or baby shower party favor!

Supplies: SU! Baroque Motifs and A Little Somethin' stamp sets, SU! Certainly Celery, Whisper White cardstock, SU! Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery Classic Ink, SU! Delicate Dots SAB Designer Paper, Big Shot Top Notz die, SU! scallop and large circle punches, SU! So Saffron SAB grosgrain ribbon, blender pen, Pop Up glue dots, adhesive, rhinestone flower, white lunch bag, natural wood confetti

Another Stationery Box

This past weekend I demonstrated the Stationery Box to my Sunday stamp club and while this project is labor intensive, it's worth it in the end! I originally got the tutorial from Jackie Topa on (you guessed it!) Splitcoaststampers, with the link posted in a previous blog entry. The colors and style of the designer series paper "Parisian Summer" by Stampin' Up! are not my typical choices but I rather liked the paper once I began to play with it. There were several guests at the club this month who were "virgin" stampers and I felt badly that they might have been intimidated by such a lengthy project the first time out but they rallied and did well for having so much thrown at them. Hopefully I didn't scare them away from stamping!

I'm still not sure that I like the embellishment on the outside. I admire the work of Beate Johns and tried to layer this in a similar fashion. I'm still mulling over how I would change it but inspiration has left me for now! Some of the keys to making this project work: patience, commitment to finishing it to the bitter end, and a Scor-Pal!!

Supplies: SU! Parisian Summer Designer Series Paper, SU! Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Bravo Burgundy, and Whisper White Cardstock and Classic inks, SU! Dreams Du Jour and Cute and Curly stamp sets, miscellaneous punches, twine, ribbon, Scor-Pal and Scor-Pal tape.

3x3 Mini Notecard Box

This latest project was featured in the Weekly Inkling newsletter, produced by Splitcoaststampers, and was the main project for my September Paper Junkies Club at the Ramstein Arts & Crafts Center. There is a tutorial on the SCS site with step-by-step instructions on how to complete the project. I've been trying to use up my new SU! Designer Paper and this project was perfect for doing just that! Here's the link to Laurie Schmidlin's tutorial:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ee/index.php/resources/tutorials/3x3notecardbox/

Supplies: SU! Riding Hood Red, Pirouette Pink, Kiss Me Kiwi, and Whisper White cardstock, SU! Riding Hood Red, Kiss Me Kiwi, and Pink Pirouette Classic ink, SU! Bella Rose Designer Paper, blender pens, ink, ribbon, scallop edge punch, dimensionals, and crystal glitter.

Stationery Box

This is my last posting for today, I promise! I made this for a class a few weeks ago and have gotten so many rave comments on it, I just had to post it for all the world to see. If you want to see other styles of this same project, visit http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ for more ideas. The base of the box is made from Bazzill Basics Bling line of pearlescent textured cardstock. The lid is paper from K&Company and the Sage Shadow cardstock and stamps are Stampin'Up!

Isn't this gorgeous? The project is not as difficult to make as you'd think by looking at it. There's a tutorial by Jackie Topa that I can e-mail to you if you're interested in step-by-step instructions (I'm still figuring out how to link files to my blog. I'm so technically challenged!) or you can Google "Stationery Box" and find numerous links to this project. The monogram stamps are from Papertrey Ink, scallop punches from Marvy Uchida and EK Success, and the adhesive pearls are from K&Company.

5-in-1 Card Purse

This is my latest project for my classes at the Ramstein Arts & Crafts Center: the 5-in-1 Card purse. I stamp-lifted this adorable project from Amy Celona's website, which I've listed in my blog links.
Her site has a wonderful step by step tutuorial if you want to try this project yourself. Since I teach at the A&C Center, the sky is the limit on the products used to complete each project. Here I used Daisy Bucket papers, ribbon from Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts, CTMH stamps and
sparkles, and Stampin' Up! ink, stamps, cardstock, punches, and the 5-in-1 card template. It's an eclectic mix of products but it gives my students an opportunity to road test a greater variety of products. The Daisy Bucket Papers are absolutely adorable, with a less conventional blend of colors for Valentine's Day, and a pebbly texture to the paper. I did have to reinforce the inside of the flap with cardstock since the paper isn't as sturdy as SU! Designer papers but the paper design makes it worthwhile.