It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Hello Everyone, I've been quiet for the last few weeks which was NOT my intention.  But I have exciting news:  I have signed up for my very first Christmas craft fair!  It will be held in two week's at our Church (Trillium United) in conjunction with their annual bake sale.  I am more than a bit late to the game and am feeling the time crunch to create a display, make some projects, and have enough items to attract customers to my booth!

Since I have been focusing all of my efforts on projects for the craft sale I have my planned blog posts on hold.  Instead of sharing the birthday card I was going to make this week, I'm going to share some of the items I've been prepping for the sale instead.  **Disclaimer:  some of the stamp sets, paper and ribbon I've been using are not Stampin' Up! items, or are retired, but they are in my stash so I wanted to use them.  If you want to CASE something there are plenty of current products you can substitute in place of anything I used that you don't have.

This post is going to be picture heavy!

Up first, some Hershey Kisses Mini Coffee Cup treat holders.  I think these would be a great way to jazz up a gift card to Tim Hortons or Starbucks, and make it have a bit more impact.  They are full of sparkle and chocolate--everything a great Christmas present needs! :)

I have also been working on a few different styles of gift card holders.  I give A LOT of gift cards each year, and I'm always looking for ways to make them more exciting.  First up are fold open holders with a belly band to keep them closed.  I made whimsical, elegant and manly options to maximize the appeal.



These are little "booklet" gift card holders that have a pop up section in the middle to hold the actual card.  Super cute!

I've also been making some Christmas card sets that I will be packaging in the new Stampin' Up! acetate boxes (once my order arrives later this week!).  I REALLY love how these cards turned out.  I used my gold Wink of Stella to splatter some gold "flake" over the white-embossed and sponged card fronts.  They are probably my very favourite of all my holiday projects this year.

I am also really fond of the white-on-white and mixed metallics trends that are everywhere right now.  I am selling my card sets in packages of 5, but I made 10 of each so that someone could buy in multiples if they needed to.

I thought it was wise to have some more traditional colour combos as well, so I went with Cherry Cobbler and Crumb Cake for these sets, although I did add a little black to update the look.

I have upcycled a few potato chip canisters and decorated them to hold homemade cookies for neighbor gifts.  This way you don't have to try to get your tupperware back!  I also made some Christmas crackers filled with chocolate balls, which I think would be really pretty place settings for a holiday dinner.  The little red-striped gable box is sized to be a gift card holder with the added benefit of having room to add the recipient's favourite holiday candy to the box.

Finally, I am still working on away on individual cards for those who don't need a set, or who prefer to use a variety.  These ones highlight a little Blend action on those pretty green trees. ;)

I also completed my first custom card order today, so it has been a really busy few weeks!  Please keep in mind if you are interested in sending some handmade cards this holiday season.  I would love to make something just for you!

Have a great week,
Barb

Fancy Fold: Bridge Card

Fancy Fold Cards make a great impression--they look really complicated and clever, but can be very simple to achieve!  This week I tried a fancy fold card technique, known as a "Bridge Card."

I have never made a bridge card before, but it was pretty easy to figure out once I had the gist of how it works.  Basically, a bridge card has an accordion fold on both ends connected by a piece of paper at the bottom, which helps it to stand up.  This fancy fold is pretty cool, as it does lay flat for mailing and fits in a standard size Stampin' Up! envelope.

I decided to use the Merry Patterns hostess stamp for my card.  I was the lucky winner of this stamp set at our last team meeting (thanks again Leena!) but I hadn't had a chance to play with it at home yet.  It really does have an impact with two-step stamping that looks way harder than it is!

What is hard is getting a photo of the card that shows what it is all about with a bunch of shadows!!  So please forgive me if I wasn't terribly successful at that. :)

I wanted the candles to be the stand out feature of this card so I went with a Basic Black card base of 4.25" x 8".  I changed the original template scoring measurements because I wanted to use the "tis the Season" sentiment from the stamp set in the middle background and it was just a hair too wide to fit.  I scored my base at 1", 2", 6" and 7",which left me with the wider centre I needed.

I used four strips of the black paper from the Merry Little Christmas DSP pack for my accordion pieces, and a rectangle of Whisper White for the centre piece.  I stamped this with my sentiment in Archival Basic Black and then again in Cherry Cobbler for the "filler."  I stamped "Light the season with love and laughter" from the Wishes All Aglow set in Crushed Curry just underneath the main sentiment.  Across the bottom of the panel I stamped the candle image two times and then stamped the inside decorations in alternating Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive and Crushed Curry for the flames.  This stamp set makes it so easy to achieve this look--there are two filler stamps that alternate candles and let you stamp three at a time.  Genius!

For my bridge piece I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the candles three times in Archival Basic Black, then again alternated the colour of the candles themselves.  I fussy cut around the whole thing and adhered this piece to the black base one side at a time.  Just lay the card flat and glue ONLY the piece of the bridge that will cover the first side piece.  Slide the base over to the other side and repeat.  Trust me, it's way simpler than you think!

I tried to capture a picture of the base lying flat...this is how you will attach the bridge, and how it will go into the envelope when you are ready to mail.

Having the candles on the bridge as well as on the centre piece really helps the image look 3D, and I think the black background helps the coloured candles to really pop. 

I'm very happy with my first bridge card and think it will be a big WOW to whoever is on the receiving end. :)  I plan to finish the card by signing our names on the back of the base using the White Stampin' Chalk marker along with a personalized message for the recipient so I don't have a picture of the "inside" to show you.  Instead I'll give you a closer look at the 3D effect!

Thanks for stopping by!

Barb

 Product List

Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[121045]

Merry Patterns Photopolymer Stamp Set

[144973]

Stampin' Trimmer

[126889]

Merry Little Christmas Designer Series Paper

[144621]

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[100730]

Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad

[126966]

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[126953]

Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

[140931]

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

[131173]

Wishes All Aglow Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[144902]

Thankful Treats

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I hope you had your fill of turkey, dressing and pumpkin pie this weekend!  It's hard to believe it's already Thanksgiving....wasn't it Easter last week?!  No matter how often I talk about time flying it just seems to speed up instead of slow down.  I suppose that's why the holidays are so important--they give you a reason to see family and catch up, have them remind you how much the kids have grown since they saw them last, and reflect on how lucky we are to have people in our lives we want to celebrate with.  Sappy, but true!

Every holiday I like to make a little treat for the people I work with to show them how much I appreciate them.  If you work a full-time job outside of the house, like me, you know how important it is to have a good group of people to share that time with.  I am blessed to have a team of passionate, fun and caring coworkers at my workplace, and I want them all to know I know it!

This year I decided to make a healthier choice for their little treats, and I settled on a clear treat box filled with trail mix and decorated with a sunflower from the Painted Harvest stamp set.  It's just so pretty, and I love that you get so much texture with just one ink pad (although this time I did use two colours, just because I could :) )

Here is a pic of the final product:

Isn't it so pretty and fun?!  I was really pleased with how it turned out, and yet it was simple enough to make in multiples (ie. I made 23 of them super fast!).

 

And a closer view...

 

 

 

I started with a Clear Tiny Treat Box and filled it with trail mix.  I then wrapped a 3/4" strip of the Painted Autumn DSP, keeping it a bit on the loose side so the wrap can be taken on and off easily.  Using Thick Whisper White cardstock I stamped that beautiful flower image in Daffodil Delight for the bottom, and Crushed Curry on the top, and then fussy cut the flower.  I'll never get tired of seeing that depth magically appear!  The centre is stamped in Crumb Cake with some Early Espresso seeds.  I used the coordinating Leaf Punch with Old Olive to make the foliage around the flower, using just one of the two-step stamps for some and both for others, just to help mix it up a bit.  I glued the leaves to the back of the flower and then adhered the whole piece to the DSP using dimensionals.

 

Finally, I added a Very Vanilla stitched oval (Stitched Shape Framelits) and a Crumb Cake scallop oval (Layering Ovals Framelits) to showcase my sentiment, which was stamped in Early Espresso.  This sentiment came from last year's Acorny Thank You set, which is retired, but there are lots of current sets that would work as well (I just felt this one really suited my purpose).

 

One more pic highlighting the top:



I love how this picture highlights the Thick Whisper White cardstock--look at the edge of that flower!

That wraps up another week for me.  I'll leave you with a bonus picture though...below is a picture of the birthday card I made as well as the turkey treat holders I made for my nieces and nephews.

Have a good week!
Barb

Product List

Clear Tiny Treat Boxes

[141699]

Painted Autumn Designer Series Paper

[144613]

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[140272]

Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad

[126944]

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

[131173]

Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

[126975]

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[126974]

Leaf Punch

[144667]

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[126953]

Acorny Thank You Photopolymer Bundle

[140841]

Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[101650]

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[120953]

Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies

[145372]

Layering Ovals Framelits Dies

[141706]

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

Liquid Multipurpose Glue

[110755]

Thankful, Creative Challenge

Hello Again Everyone,

Fall is finally here!  The mornings are crisp and cool, and the afternoons are sunny and bright.  No wonder this is my favourite time of year!

My upline, Leena, hosted our quarterly team meeting this past weekend, and challenged us all to create a fall themed card to swap with our teammates.  Eight people participated in the swap, so I knew that whatever I designed was going to have to be simple enough to reproduce multiple times, and yet distinctive enough to (hopefully) showcase a stamp set in a new way.

My card features the new Feeling of Christmas stamp set.  You may not have noticed it in the Holiday Catalogue--it's a stand-alone stamp set snuggled in at the top of the page--but it immediately caught my eye. 

I like to take "Christmas" stamps and see how they can be used throughout the year, and this was an easy one!  I have a wreath on my front door year round, celebrating each season as it comes.  And this set can so easily be changed with ink colour choices to reflect Spring, Summer, Winter, or Fall, as I did for my card this week.

I started with a piece of Cajun Craze cardstock as my base.  I added a strip of the beautiful Autumn Harvest DSP--I hated to use it because it is so pretty and I like to hoard my paper, but good news:  it's part of the DSP sale on right now!  So I have already replaced it. :)

I then went to work on the front panel.  I stamped the detailed wreath in Early Espresso and then stamped overtop with the painted stamp in Old Olive.  I did a little bit of hand painting with Cajun Craze and Crushed Curry inks and my blender pen.  It is such an easy way to add just a little bit of colour, without worrying about bleeding outside the lines!  Although you can't see it in the picture, I added clear Wink of Stella to the bow and the yellow balls, just to give them a little autumn shimmer.  I finished it off by stamping the "I am thankful for you" sentiment from the Painted Harvest set across the bottom of the panel.  It is such a pretty and elegant font. 

I think this card would be perfect for that neighbor who helps you rake your leaves, or put away your garden furniture.  And I think we need to get back into the habit of giving thank you cards to the people who we appreciate it--it always brightens someone's day to get a card, especially one that celebrates something they have done.

Here is a close up of the card front, where I was playing with a new app and trying to get an "artsy" look to my pic.  Let me know what you think!

Thanksgiving is this weekend (already, yikes!) and I am working on some special treats which I'll share next week.

Until then,
Barb

Product List

Cajun Craze 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[119684]

Painted Autumn Designer Series Paper

[144613]

Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[101650]

Feeling Of Christmas Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[144914]

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

[131173]

Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad

[126965]

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

[126953]

Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad

[126974]

Blender Pens

[102845]

Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

[141897]

Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set

[144783]