Dec 17, 2009 | Christmas, class, Designer Series Paper, Holiday Mini Catalog 2009 |
Well yesterday got away from me and by the time I was ready last night to try to post our internet connection wasn’t working….so I’ll try to post twice today once now and again later.
This Friday (well I guess now that is tomorrow) I have my December class and it is themed “Holiday Tags & More” – I wanted everyone to make some quick little projects to finish up their gift wrapping. So we’ll be making some tag projects, a cute ornament and a little box. I designed the tin full of Ornament Tags for the class – but unfortunately it won’t be part of the class on Friday. Why? Well when I went to get out more tins I only had 2 left – I don’t know what happened to all the others that I had. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it those were the tins I used for the holiday bazaar a couple of months ago – that must have been where they went. Well darn – it is a beautiful project so you will just have to recreate it at home. I suppose you can just make the tags without the tin maybe we’ll do that instead – once it was empty you could use it to hold a gift card. So it was a double duty project – tags and a gift card holder…..
Stampin’ Up! Supplies that I used:
- Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Series Paper
- Delightful Decorations stamp set
- Ornament Punch
- Real Red card stock and classic ink
- Soft Suede card stock and classic ink
- Stampin’ Dimensionals
- 3/4″ and 1″ circle punch, 1/16″ and 1/8″ handheld circle punch
- silver cord
- Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon
- Tombow Multipurpose Adhesive
- Corner Rounder punch
Other Supplies:
- metal tin – like an Altoids tin
- white embroidery thread
This project features the Ornament Punch – if you don’t already have this punch and it is on your wish list order soon – it is in the Holiday Mini Catalog which ends on January 4th. It may not be available again after that – Stampin’ Up! hasn’t told us yet. I hope it is because there are many other things you can do with this punch. And I haven’t had the chance to try them all or share them all either.
For the Late Night Stamper’s 12 Days of Christmas challenge – this is my Day 6 project.
Happy Stampin’!
Dec 15, 2009 | Christmas, Occasion Mini 2010, Tutorial |
Last night I had my downline group meeting and as part of our meeting I wanted to do a cookie exchange – so everyone brought cookies to share. With the idea of the cookie exchange in mind I decided that one of our projects that we make should be a cookie box. So I sat down this weekend to design a cookie box. While making my box I had my new Stampin’ Up! punches out on my craft table so I decided to use those to dress up my box a bit. I love the look of these new punches – there is a corner punch with a matching border punch. There are two sets that will be available in January. I used the Scallop Trim Corner (it will be in the new Occaions Mini Catalog) and the Scallop Trim Border (it will be in the new Sale-A-Bration Brochure – so you can earn this one FREE). The other set is called Pinking Hearts. These are the new punch style and they look more like a stapler, the lock shut and you can store them by standing them on their ends or stacking them. They punch very nicely too – I can even do it with my left hand and I’m not left handed.
Here is my finished cookie box. See the nicely scalloped trim around the top. I also scalloped the edge of the lid.
The bottom of the box is Chocolate Chip and only a little bit shows at the bottom under the scallop border but if you wanted more to show then you just need to make the side panels on the lid smaller.
For my box base I used a 12″ x 12″ piece of Chocolate Chip card stock. Scored on all four sides at 2″. I snipped two sides to form tabs and then glued it together to make the bottom of the box. I have started using the Tombow MultiPurpose Adhesive for my boxes and it seems to be working well. You only need a small amount and it costs much less than Sticky Strip.
The lid is Real Red card stock – also a 12″ x 12″ piece and it is scored just less than 2″ on all four sides. This is so that the lid will fit over the base – I did about 1/16″ less for a snug fit. I snipped two sides to form tabs and then punched all four edges with the Scallop Trim Border punch. I glued the lid together at the corners, trimming where needed so nothing showed behind my pretty scallop edge.
The top piece is Whisper White – stamped with the large swirl from Baroque Motifs in Garden Green and Old Olive. Stamped with the ornaments from Tree Trimmings – using Garden Green and Real Red ink. The “Season’s Greetings” is from Many Merry Messages stamp set. I sponged around the edges and added some Rhinestone Brads.
To create the Chocolate Chip mat with the scallop trim border was not working out as easily as I had hoped. I worked with my corner and border punches trying to create the perfect square and after rounding the third corner somehow I was always crooked. I’ll have to work on that some more but until then I came up with a cheater method to create the perfect square (you could also do a rectangle). Besides it used less card stock this way too. Do you want to know how I did it?
Monika’s Cheater Scallop Trim Square Tutorial:
Step 1 - four strips
1. Start with 4 strips of card stock at least as long as you want your side to be – you can always trim of the extra if it is too long. The width should be enough to punch the scallop trim corner punch and get the two scallops on one side. On each strip punch one corner and then all the way down one long edge with the Scallop Trim punches.
Step 2 - match corner to end
2. Then you are going to match up one corner to an end of each strip. You will trim at an angle up to the second scallop on the corner so you don’t have any extra card stock showing behind the next scallop. You are going to match the scallops up at a right angle and glue the corner together.
Step 2 - glue together at a right angle
3. Now if you need to lay your piece that will be on top of the scallops and see how long you need your pieces to be – or complete your square and then measure for your top piece. You will create a square by repeating step 2 for the other three corners.
Step 3 - make a square
Make sure you are at a right angle at each corner so that you end up with a square (or rectangle) in the end. It might be easier to punch one more scallop around each corner so that you are matching up two instead of only one to help you stay straight.
4. Then add your layer on top of your square. Or if you prefer – have your layer and glue your corners and strips to the back of it. Since mine was very big for my cookie box I saved card stock this way because I don’t have any in the middle of my mat.
Step 4 - add layer on your square
close up of a corner
You really can’t tell that the scallop trim is made up of two pieces. It is just barely visible in the close up photo on the left side.
So this was my cheater method for creating a nice square with the new scallop trim corner and border punches. I’ll keep working with them on a full piece of card stock too and let you know if I figure out anything with that. I have one theory that I am working on now that worked for me once – but that could have been luck – I need to be able to do it more than once for it to be a helpful hint.
Last night was fun. This cookie box could also be used as a gift for a neighbor – of course you’ll want to fill it with cookies. To give the box some extra support I cut a piece of the cardboard backer from our Designer Series Paper to sit inside the box. I also laid some wax paper inside so I could put cookies in there – cut the wax paper to 12 x 12 and it fits inside and covers the sides too. Or put your cookies in a plastic bag before putting them in the box. Yesterday I made Snickerdoodles for my cookie for our exchange. Yum Yum!
Thanks for stopping by today – I really need to finish my Christmas cards….. I do think I have just about all my shopping done – only a couple of little things left to find. I put ornaments on our tree this morning. I bought wrapping paper too – I thought I had some but apparently I used most of it up last year.
Have a Happy Day!
Dec 14, 2009 | Big Shot, Christmas, class, Holiday Mini Catalog 2009 |
Holiday Tags & More Class
When: Friday, December 18th
Time: 10:00 am and 7:00 pm
Join me for my monthly Hands-on Stamping Class.
This month we are making two sets of Holiday gift tags, a fancy favor box and a cute ornament using the sweet treat cups.
These are fun projects that I know you will love!
Please bring adhesive (like snail) and some scissors.
The class fee is $15. If you place an order of $50 or more you will get $10 off the class fee.
Please RSVP by 12/16.
I hope you can join me for this fun class! You’ll be ready to finish up your holiday wrapping!
Email me at [email protected] if you would like to attend.
Dec 13, 2009 | Christmas, family, Stamper's Club |
I made these little snowflake tins last week to give to the girls in my Stamp Club when we had our meeting Friday night.
I used small squares tins that have the window in the lid. The base of the tin was wrapped in a strip of the Autumn Meadows Designer Series Paper from the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini catalog. The lid is wrapped with Very Vanilla Grosgrain ribbon. I used the Tombo Multipurpose adhesive – the liquid glue in the green bottle to attach both the paper and the ribbon to the tin. I added the little ribbon knot with a mini glue dot.
I used the Snowflake punch and punched three snowflakes – one in Very Vanilla, one in Chocolate Chip and one in Taken with Teal. I punched a hole in the center of each with the paper piercer and also in the center of the window. I used a silver brad through the center of all three snowflakes and then put that through the lid.
On the inside I used my Clear Scallop Square Bigz Die to cut pieces of wax paper to line the inside of the tin and then added my little holiday pretzel treats. When I made the treats I used red and green M&Ms because I originally planned to decorate the tin in red and green. But then switched to the browns and teals so I should have gotten a different color of M&Ms for my treats. Oh, well, this time they just won’t match.
The pretzel treats are really good – the right combination of sweet and salty and very easy to make. I use the square shaped waffle pretzels – lay them all out on a tray in a single layer. Turn the oven on to a low temp 160 or 170. Now put a Hershey’s Kiss on top of each pretzel (unwrapped from the foil). They used to sell unwrapped kisses during the holidays but I wasn’t able to find them anywhere this year. So I had to unwrap all the kisses – that takes the longest.
Set the tray in the oven for about 6 minutes. Take it out and press an M&M into the top of the Kiss. If you can’t press it down then stick the tray back in the oven for another minute or so until the kiss is soft but still has it’s shape. When you take them out then work quickly to press an M&M into the top of each kiss. Then I take the whole tray and set it in the fridge for them to cool and set up again. My kids love them and you can make them for any holiday by changing the color of the M&Ms on top.
For the late night stampers group – we have a challenge to post a project every day for 12 days – the 12 days of Christmas Challenge. We have to send the ideas to the group so this is my Day 3 project. For Day 1 it was the movie ticket holder I posted last week and for Day 2 the scallop square fabric bags that I posted earlier.
Thanks for stopping by. I started playing with some of my new stuff today and will hopefully have some creations to share next week.
Oh – one more thing – this is family related. I just found out last night from Kyle (my oldest son) that he has an interview today (that is where he is now) with MIT. It is part of the application process. He tells me this at 7 pm because I need to find him a blazer, dress pants and dress shoes to wear to the interview. A little more notice please would have been nice…so I remember the very helpful man that found a jacket for Tyler to wear to the Homecoming Dance and since I was short on time I checked to see how late that store was open. Luckily on Saturday night they were open until 9 and we headed down there. We got there just before 8 – luckily Kyle was able to wear a jacket off the rack with no alterations needed, and the seamstress was still there to hem/cuff his pants – they did that while we waited. They had shoes in his size too. I wasn’t planning on that expense right before Christmas but I did want him to look nice and now he’ll be set for awhile for anything else he may need to dress up for. I hope he does well!
Dec 12, 2009 | Christmas, Decor Elements |
I received my order earlier this week with the Vintage Ornaments Decor Elements. I ordered 2 sets – Chocolate Chip and Real Red. Originally I was going to put them in my front bay window so you cold see them from outside, but then I decided if I did that then I couldn’t see them and they are really pretty and I wanted to see them every day. So I decided instead to put them on the big picture window in my kitchen. It didn’t take long to put them up. And here is the result:
During the day I can still see through to the back yard and at night when it is dark outside I can still see the ornaments on the glass. I’m very pleased with how they turned out and the were easy to put on the glass. I washed my window first with window cleaner and dried it. Then cut apart the pieces from the big sheet and decided where i wanted to position everything. The very first ornament I placed with a full length of the string so for that one I first put up the string – it is the long skinny Chocolate ornament – and then put on the ornament. I did use a small level to help me get everything straight but I still don’t think it is perfect. For the rest of them I first put on the ornament and made sure they were all higher than the first one I did – except the smallest of the Chocolate ones (he went up last). I added all the string pieces by trimming them to the length I needed. Then I used a full string plus an extra piece cut from one of the others to make the longest string for the small Chocolate ornament. You can’t even tell that it was two pieces.
When using the Decor Elements use the applicator tool to burnish the Grid side of the paper first. You want to transfer the vinyl image to the sticky paper – so it is the grid paper that you pull away. If it doesn’t transfer completely when you pull it away just lay it back down and burnish some more – or try removing it from a different side. Once you remove the Grid paper don’t let the vinyl curl up on itself – or you’ll have a big problem. Then carefully position where you want it and burnish it so that it transfers from the sticky paper to your window or wall.
Have fun with your Holiday Decorating!
Dec 10, 2009 | Christmas, Designer Series Paper, Scrapbook Pages |
For my last scrapbook class I designed a two-page scrapbook layout that look likes an Advent Calendar. The idea came from an ad I saw in a magazine. I also remember when I was young and when my kids were young we would buy (or my parents would bring) the flat calendars that had all the windows with the chocolate behind them. This layout is basically that same idea but instead of chocolate behind the windows there will be photos.
In order to design the page I used my Stampin’ Up! Grid Paper and traced out my square – the Real Red card stock is 11 x 11. The windows are cut out of the Real Red and that is glued onto the Very Vanilla which is then glued to the 12×12 Chocolate Chip card stock.
I mapped my windows out on the grid paper – since I needed 25 windows I planned for 13 on one page and 12 on the other. I wanted several larger windows – and then a mixture of medium and small. I drew it all out on my grid paper until I had a nice fit – there is 1/4″ in between each of the squares.
I then used my paper cutter with both a cutting blade and a scoring blade to cut and score each window. I cut three sides and scored one to create each window. Some open on the top, some on the bottom and then some on the left or right. They are all different. When you use the Fiskars paper cutter that Stampin’ Up! sells you can position your cutting/scoring blade on the cutter without pressing down so that it cuts the paper. You position where you want to start – then press the blade down, slide the blade until you need to stop, then lift the blade up. There is a ruler on the guide that holds the blade and the little arrow points on the blade show you where the center of the blade is positioned on that ruler. This allows you to cut within the center of your card stock with out cutting it end to end. I made all the cuts and scores in one direction then turned the card stock and did them all in the other direction.
Once my windows were cut – I glued the Real Red card stock to the Very Vanilla – be sure the adhesive is only on the strips around and in between the windows and not on the windows themselves. To decorate each window I cut pieces of the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper about 1/4″ smaller than the size of each window. The numbers were stamped on Very Vanilla card stock and punched with a 1/2″ circle punch, then backed with a 3/4″ circle punched from Chocolate Chip card stock. I arranged my numbers pretty randomly – I wanted 1 in the upper left corner and 25 in the lower right and then just arranged them based on size of the window – so if I knew I would have a photo or an event on a certain date I put that on a larger window. I also stamped some images to add to some of the windows for decoration.
I plan to add photos of things that we have done throughout the month of December. We had Greg’s birthday, Ryan’s band concert, Tyler’s band concert, the Christmas Parade, Christmas eve, Christmas day, getting the tree, baking, parties, etc. I’ll fill in with pictures of us and things like our stockings which I hand made years ago in counted-cross-stitch.
In case you are wondering how to put it in a sleeve in your album and be able to access the windows – what I plan to do is cut the front of the plastic sleeve on the sides and the bottom at the 11″ mark where my Real Red card stock will be. I will add a little accent with velcro behind the two bottom corners so that the sleeve stays shut until someone is ready to look at the page and open the windows. Then they just lift the cut portion of the plastic sleeve to open each window and view the photo.
Another option is to just cut the windows off and have the open space for you photo – then place the number accent directly on a corner of your photo.
I hope all that made sense! I think it will be fun to have a glimpse of everything that goes on during the month leading up to Christmas.
And for those of you that asked what will be in the Advent Matchboxes – those will have candy in them – the drawers are big enough to fit most of the holiday candy. And the big box on the top has a chocolate Santa that I found at the store – they are flat and tall and fit in there at an angle.
Have a wonderful day – tonight we are going to the High School Band Concert – I love to see them all dressed up in their tuxedos!
I hope you’ll join me in January for the Create with Connie & Julie class – see the link on my side-bar for more details.
