Dec 9, 2009 | Christmas |
If you plan to give movie tickets for a gift this holiday season here is a quick little holder that I made over the Thanksgiving break.
My mother-in-law asked if I could make her something to hold movie tickets that she was sending as a gift to someone. And this little holder is what I cam up with. I think the tickets are the ones that you can buy at Costco so I used those to determine the size of the holder.
Just measure what you want to place inside – movie tickets, a check, cash, a gift card – anything flat to determine your size.
Stampin’ Supplies:
- Real Red card stock
- Old Olive card stock
- Whisper White card stock
- Big on Christmas stamp set
- Jet Black StazOn ink
- Stampin’ Write Markers – Real Red, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip
- Old Olive striped ribbon
- Slit Punch
- Crop-A-Dile (for the large hole punch)
The holder just folds in half and tucks into the slit to hold it shut. This was a quick project and is small enough to fit inside a card or just send in an envelope.
A great way to wish a teenager Happy Holidays – something for the baby sitter, the kids that watch your pets when you are away, anyone that you don’t know what to get them.
Have a productive day and be Happy!
Dec 8, 2009 | Big Shot, Christmas, Designer Series Paper, SU Ribbon |
On Sunday I made another Matchbox Advent Calendar. They take a while to make – a lot of cuts on the Big Shot and then all the assembling but they sure are fun and I really like how they are turning out. Here is the second one I made:
This one uses some retired paper – Frosty Day Designer Series paper (item# 113057) – but the good news is that you can order this paper on the Clearance Rack which you can order on my website through the online store. The stamp set is Mr. Twigster which is retired but another snowman set like the Snow Buddies hostess set would work just as well. 
And the Felt Flurries (item # 13697) – the felt snowflakes are also available in the Clearance Rack on my website too.
The main colors that I used for this one are Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue, Kiwi Kiss, and Tangerine Tango. But you could use Old Olive in place of Kiwi Kiss and Pumpkin Pie for the Tangerine Tango. In fact the ribbon I used was a retired Old Olive and retired Chocolate Chip twill ribbon but they match just fine even though the aren’t exactly the same colors. The third ribbon is the Bashful Blue 1/4″ Grosgrain ribbon – which also comes in Old Olive and Chocolate Chip.
I used Rhinestone Brads in the center of the Felt Flurries.
The numbers are from Calendar Alphabet & Numbers set. The numbers are stamped in Close to Cocoa ink and punched out with 1/2″ Circle punch. Then backed with Close to Cocoa card stock with the 3/4″ Circle punch.
The snowman is stamped with Black StazOn ink and then colored with a Bashful Blue Stampin’ Write marker and then the blender pens and Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango ink. Then I carefully cut out the snowmen and the trees and attached them with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
This project works the best using the green bottle of Tombow multipurpose adhesive. I used just a little to hold the boxes together. You don’t necessarily need any on the drawers but I had a few flaps that kept coming back up so I’d just put a small dab where I needed it.
This box I worked more on lining up the stacks and used a little bit of glue to hold the backs and sides together so they wouldn’t sag in the middle – my first one had a little bit of that going on.
I have the DSP paper cut for my third one. Then each of the boys will have one. The nice part was that the drawers from the matchbox are big enough to hold most of the candy that is out there for the holidays. I have another wooden advent calendar that I bought a couple of years ago but the drawers on it are so small I can’t find candy to fit inside. These are a really nice size!
Thanks for stopping by today and for the nice comments about my Guest Designer opportunity with Create with Connie & Julie. I have placed my pre-order for the Occasions Mini Catalog and for the Sale-A-Bration brochure – I can’t wait to get some of my new stuff to start creating.
Dec 3, 2009 | Big Shot, Christmas |
Stephanie and I were busy over the Thanksgiving break. I brought my new Stampin’ Up! Scallop Square Clear Big Shot Die with me so that we could play with. We found the perfect project to make and got busy very quickly. This idea came from two blogs that I like to visit – Heather Summers and Angie Juda. Stephanie is a quilter so she has lots of fabric and the Big Shot has become a popular tool for quilters because you can cut a stack of fabric with the steel-ruled dies at the same time. So that is exactly what we did and we made these cute fabric purses.
The larger snowman purse Stephanie made for herself. 
I made the smaller one with the little children fabric for my niece – she is almost 3 so I don’t think she is reading my blog. I plan to put some fun things inside and give it to her for Christmas.
We cut fabric for probably 5 more purses. Stephanie and my niece Emily are making some more and then I cut fabric for two more also. I brought all the pieces home and now I have to sew them together.
These came together so much faster than it would seem. We cut the fabric into strips and then folded them up to fit over the Scallop Square die and cut 8 pieces of fabric at a time. The purses are actually reversible if you wanted them to be. So in between two scallop squares you sandwich a piece of batting. Then we sewed a straight stitch across the two diagonals from corner to corner. We did that for all the squares – you have a front, back, bottom and two sides.
Then we sewed the squares together to form strips. And then the strips together to form the front and back. Then you stitch the front and back to either side of the bottom. Before stitching the sides up you need to add a handle and stitch the tops of each square shut.
On Stephanie’s bag she added a fabric handle which she stitched. On my smaller one I used some of the Real Red Double Stitched ribbon.
Oh the other great thing about this die is that it is clear so you can see what you are cutting if you need to. On the snowman purse I positioned it on the line of snowmen to either pick one that was centered or to put two inside the square. It made it easy to position.
After you sew up the sides we did go back and snip in between the scallops to create a fringe effect. Once these get washed they will have more of a shabby look to them. I think we were all surprised at how quickly we were able to make these.
When the others are done I’ll get pictures and post those too. Aren’t they cute? I want to find some other fabric and make some everyday ones too.
I one of those good days today where things just seem to be where you need them to be. A successful day you could call it. I have been looking this week for Cranberry Walnut bread that Greg wanted and since today is his birthday I wanted to get him some. This morning I decided to look up recipes but most of what I found was more like a cake like banana bread rather than bread made yeast. Today I decided to check at Publix and couldn’t find any but this time I asked and sure enough they had a loaf in the freezer – it just needed baking. So I brought it home to bake – yeah success! And while I was there I stopped at the little meal center where they cook and he had a chicken recipe all prepared – it was very good and I was asking what was on the chicken – he said “Panko” – well guess what – I have a recipe at home that I want to make and it uses Panko and I had no idea where to find it. It was from a cooking show and sometimes I think they use unusual ingredients that I can’t always find. But he had some right there and I got that too – yeah success again! Then I came home and made Oatmeal Raisin cookies from scratch – Greg was happy when he got home from work – and another success! So all was good today.
Thanks for stopping by today! Happy crafting and cooking!
Dec 2, 2009 | Christmas, Holiday Mini Catalog 2009 |
Every other month my upline Wendy has a group meeting and on opposite months I have my group meeting. Her meeting was in November and everyone usually brings cards to swap. Today I am sharing some of the swaps from the last meeting – not everyone put their name on their cards though – so these are the ones that I know who made them.
This little punch elf card was made by Michele Scillepi. The elf head is the ornament punch turned upside down. The tree is made from the Snowflake #2 Originals Die for the Big Shot.
Punch art was a popular choice. The punched Santa card was made by Cindy Schuster. His beard is the scallop circle, the hat is half of a punched square. The snowflake is the snowflake punch.
The Dasher card was from Joyce and is covered with lots of glitter – he looks like he is prancing in the snow.
Apparently I didn’t take a picture of my swap card so I’ll have to do that and show it later.
Wendy shared a New Years card using the individual stamp from the Holiday Mini catalog called A Brand New Year.
I have a scrapbook class starting now – so I’ll be back tomorrow. Bye!
Dec 1, 2009 | Big Shot, Christmas, Christmas Punch, Designer Series Paper, Holiday Mini Catalog 2009 |
I found this idea while searching Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator blogs a few weeks ago. I tried to go back and find the original blog that I saw the idea but I can not find it. I have found several other blogs with this same idea and many other variations of it. The original blog I found it on didn’t have specific instructions and I’m not positive that she actually used the Stampin’ Up! matchbox die I actually think hers was made with real matchboxes. So I don’t know who to credit for the original idea but here is my version.
I added an extra box on the top to be box 25 to be opened on Christmas Day. I used the Scallop Square Clear die to create the top and bottom. I created a hinged lid and used the corduroy button and some silver cord as the closure.
I put most of this together over the Thanksgiving Holiday and I finished it here at home yesterday. Ryan kept looking in it last night for candy. Well there isn’t any yet. I’m headed to the store shortly and will get some then.
I cut 24 matchboxes using the Matchbox Die and the Big Shot machine. The drawer part was cut out of Designer Series Paper. The papers I used were retired from last year and since I didn’t have enough of one pack left I combined two different packs to get this project done. You need 6 full sheets of the 12×12 DSP to create the drawers plus extra to cover the sides of the stacked boxes, the box on the top and the lid. I fold up all the little drawers and if it all works right you don’t need any adhesive to hold them together. I had a few that wouldn’t stay together so I just helped them along with some adhesive.
The outside of each matchbox was cut out of Chocolate Chip card stock. I used 12″ x 12″ sheets and cut them into 3″ x 6″ pieces (I need to double check my measurement – but it is slightly shorter than the actual die-cut, I wanted to maximize my card stock so I had a smaller over hang to glue the box together than what the die gives you). I used the Tombow Multipurpose adhesive to glue everything together for this project. I glued together all the outside pieces of the matchboxes and then glued them into stacks of 3 tall.
I cut 3 5-1/2″ squares to use at the base, and in between the layers. On the base I glued four stacks of the boxes so that each one faced out on a different side. Then I glued the middle square to the top of those. Then glued on the next four stacks of boxes – again so that each one faced out on one of the sides but opposite of the bottom layer. 
Then glue the top square on.
Before sliding in the drawers I used the small hole punch on the Crop-a-dile to put a hole in the front of each drawer. I tied a piece of ribbon into a small loop and poked it through the hole from the inside. To keep from wasting a lot of ribbon I actually tied the loop while it was on the roll and then cut it off. I have fat fingers and it takes more ribbon than what I actually need to get it around my finger and into the knot. I used the 1/4″ Grosgrain ribbon – colors were Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, and Real Red. Then I slid the drawers in on each side.
I created the numbers for the drawers using the Calendar Alphabet & Numbers stamp set. I punched each number out with the 1/2″ circle punch and backed it with a 3/4″ circle punch in either Real Red, Chocolate Chip or Old Olive. I just randomly glued them onto the different drawers. I wanted to be a search and hunt and turn to all the different sides throughout the whole month, so I didn’t put them in order.
I stamped some additional images to add to the large side squares. Stamp sets I used were:
Christmas Punch, Tree Trimmings, Patterned Pines, Delightful Decorations, Winter Post and Dasher. And I added one of the felt snowflakes from last year. I believe these are available on the Stampin’ Up! clearance store – you can visit my website and click SHOP NOW to see if they are still available.
For the top I used the Stampin’ Up! Clear Scallop Square Die (and I have another great project to post later this week using this same die – it got A LOT of use over the holiday break). The top is decorated with the die cuts – the GoGo Boots Alphabet Sizzlit Die set and the Merry Details Sizzlit Die. You can’t see it but there is a piece of silver cord wrapped around the corduroy button to hold the lid shut. I punched two 1/16″ holes in the red card stock – just under the Designer Series Paper. The knot for the loop is hidden under the paper. I’ll have to put a nice surprise in there.
I have been trying to find an idea that I liked for an advent project and this is my favorite so far. I love all the coordinating products that we get from Stampin’ Up! and the beauty of stamps is that I can create my accents in what ever color I need them to be. Enjoy!
Let the countdown begin……..
Nov 30, 2009 | Big Shot, Christmas, Circle Scissor Plus, class |
I found the cutest Big Shot project a few weeks back while searching blogs for ideas. I loved this one so much I made very few changes. I found it on Renee’s blog .
I decided to use it for my Holiday Big Shot class that I had a couple of weeks ago.
This was actually much easier to create than what it looks. You need 3 pillow box die cuts and then 2 circles (I believe they were 4″ and I used my Circle Scissor Plus to cut them) and three strips that were 1″ x 5″.
I used the same color combination that Renee used – Not Quite Navy and Old Olive. The snowman is stamped in Close to Cocoa and his nose is colored with the Pumpkin Pie Stampin’ Write Marker. The snowflakes are stamped in Not Quite Navy and I used my Shimmer Paint mist to spritz on some shimmer (you can’t really see it in the photo).
The handle is made from Old Olive ribbon in the Mistletoe Ribbon Originals pack from the Stampin’ Up! Holiday mini catalog. A trick we learned at the Chattanooga Regional was to attach a piece of card stock to the underside of the ribbon if you want the ribbon to stand up like a handle. So here I added a 1/4″ x 8-1/2″ strip of Old Olive card stock to the underside of the ribbon handle. I used the slot punch to add a slot in either side of the bucket. I added my holes at the crease line so that my snowman could be on the center of a flat panel rather than on a crease in the bucket. The handle attaches to itself with brads.
The bottom of the bucket is created like a basket – you score 1/2″ on each end of the 5″ long strips and then glue them in on opposite sides of the bucket. The three strips will cross in the center. Then you add a circle to each side of the strips creating the bottom of the bucket.
These are really cute and since I have three of them made and I have three boys – guess what – they will each get one filled with some type of little goodies. Now to figure out what I’m going to put inside.
People often talk about comfort zones and how you need to step outside your comfort zone to grow and challenge yourself. Many things that I have done related to my Stampin’ Up! business have sent me outside my comfort zone. And I just took two new steps outside my comfort zone. Last night I turned in an application to be a guest designer for an online class that two other demonstrators are having beginning in January. And today I sent an email to a scrapbook magazine to get information on how to send in submissions for publication in their magazine. Now I’ll have to wait and see what I hear back.
The count down towards Christmas begins and I’m finishing up an advent calendar project that I plan to post tomorrow. I won’t have a chance to hold it as a class so I’m hoping to include some general instructions for you to create one at home.
Thanks for visiting me today!
My mother-in-law asked if I could make her something to hold movie tickets that she was sending as a gift to someone. And this little holder is what I cam up with. I think the tickets are the ones that you can buy at Costco so I used those to determine the size of the holder.
Just measure what you want to place inside – movie tickets, a check, cash, a gift card – anything flat to determine your size.
