Convention projects: Part 2

Yesterday I posted the first two of my (finally) completed make-and-take projects from the 2013 Stampin' Up! Convention. Today I'm going to share the last two, both of which are cute ways to package little gifts or treats.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Occasions
Paper: Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White cardstock; In Color Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack - Crisp Cantaloupe
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Tag a Bag gift box, 2-3/8" scalloped circle punch, Pansy punch, 7/8" scalloped circle punch, 1-3/8" circle punch, Banner punch, Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon, linen thread, large pearls, Dimensionals, Mono Multi liquid glue

Of all four projects, this was probably the one I changed the most. The project instructions said to use the Coastal Cabana and Calypso Coral cardstock and Crisp Cantaloupe DSP to create feather shapes to embellish the gift box. I haven't really jumped on board the feather bandwagon, so I created a flower embellishment instead. For the base of the flower I punched a 2-3/8" scallop circle out of Calypso Coral cardstock, snipped between the scallops to create petals, and carefully scrunched then re-opened the flower to add some texture and dimension. The next layers are two Pansy shapes punched from the DSP. I flipped one of the flowers over and staggered the placement of the petals, so you can see both of the patterns on the paper. I left the bottom pansy flat, but I curled up the petals on the top pansy just a bit. The middle of the flower is a 7/8" Coastal Cabana scalloped circle and a large pearl.

I had some trouble with the Summer Starfruit ribbon that goes around the box, so I ended up just tying it in a knot, cutting off the ends, making two separate loops and then adhering the loops to the plastic cover underneath the knot. To adhere the flower to the plastic I stacked Dimensionals four high on either side of the knot and then placed the flower on the Dimensionals. To make the tag, I stamped the "Four You" image from the Occasions set (the stamps that are included with the Everyday Occasions Cardmaking kit), punched it out and used linen thread to tie it to the ribbon.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Tag It
Ink: Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana
Accessories: Tag a Bag gift bag, Tag a Bag Accessory Kit, Coastal Cabana ruffle stretch trim

For this project I only made one change from the instructions: instead of using the suggested "It's your day" birthday image, I used "I dig you!" I figured this way I could use the bag for Valentine's Day or to give someone a little "just because" treat. The baker's twine, mini clothespin and layered tag pieces are all included with the Tag a Bag Accessory Kit, so you can mix and match different colors.

Creating a flat bottom on the gift bag is pretty easy to do. I didn't take pictures, though, so I'll try to explain it as simply as I can. First score each side of the bag vertically at 1" and then horizontally 1-1/4" from the bottom. Cut along the two vertical score lines from the bottom of the bag just up to the horizontal score line; you will then have three flaps on the bottom of the bag.

Cut open the fold along the bottom of the bag so you can work the bag into the rectangular shape. The folded edges that were originally the sides of the bag are pushed in, and the score lines you made become the left and right sides of the bag. (It will make sense as you're doing it. This was the trickiest part for me and made me wish I had one more hand.) Then fold in the flaps on the bottom and adhere them together. These would be really cute for little favors at a birthday party or shower.

Thanks for stopping by -- and have a safe, happy New Year's celebration!

Convention projects: Part 1

Yesterday I was finally ready to hit the craft room and get my fingers inky. But although I have a bunch of new stamping supplies, I was feeling a bit lost in terms of what to make. So instead of wasting time feeling frustrated, I pulled out some ready-to-make projects: my make-and-take packets from the Stampin' Up! Convention last summer. (Yes, that was more than five months ago, but better late than never.) There were four projects, so I'll share two today and two tomorrow. And while I can't take credit for the original designs, I did make a few changes so the projects better fit my style.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Hello, Lovely
Cardstock: Whisper White note cards and envelopes
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Rhinestones, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, paper-piercing tool and mat, Stamp-a-ma-jig

In the instructions for this project, each note card had a different design, but I really liked the simplicity of this layout, so I decided to use it for all of the cards. I stamped the images in a different color ink for each card, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig tool to help with placement. I added the rhinestones and was going to stop there, but on the last card I stamped -- I think it was the Coastal Cabana -- the group of images was decidedly off-center. Figures. I'd stamped them too far to the left, so I needed to fill up some space along the right side of the card. I wanted to keep the cards a single layer, so I added two rows of pierced holes. It's not what I'd intended, but I still like the end result. I forgot to include the envelopes in the picture, but I also stamped one of these images in the lower left corner of each envelope, so they coordinate nicely with the cards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Hello, Lovely
Paper: Whisper White and Old Olive cardstock, silver glimmer paper
Ink: Coastal Cabana
Accessories: Tag a Bag gift bag, 1/8" Bermuda Bay taffeta ribbon, Calypso Coral chevron ribbon, 1-3/4" circle punch, rhinestones, Dimensionals

This project also came with a little bag to package the set of note cards. It was easy to make -- first I stamped and cut out the "You make me happy" image and then layered together the other elements with Dimensionals. I tied the Bermuda Bay ribbon around the closed bag and used Dimensionals to adhere the "tag" to the bag. It's such a cute, simple idea, but probably one I wouldn't have thought of myself. And I think this is the only part of all the projects where I didn't really change anything. I'm definitely going to remember this idea for other card sets I make.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Hello, Lovely
Paper: Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana Core-dinations rdstock; silver glimmer paper
Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Coastal Cabana, Old Olive, Sumer Starfruit, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Whisper White baker's twine, Very Vintage designer buttons, 1-3/4" circle punch, rhinestones, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

The first step in making this card was to stamp the splatter background. The large splatters are Coastal Cabana and Summer Starfruit -- to get the lighter ink colors, stamp the image on scratch paper first and then on the card base -- and the smaller splatters are Old Olive. To make the large arrow, stamp the diagonal lines on half a piece of cardstock and then trim the point on one end and the v-shaped notch in the other.

One of the things I changed on this card was the sentiment. The example card used the "Hello Lovely" greeting, but I wanted "Thank You" instead. I used a Calypso Coral marker to ink just the first part of the "Thank You, You're the Best" stamp and stamped it over the ampersand on the Crisp Cantaloupe circle. Two more arrows, a button with baker's twine and a few rhinestones finish off this card.

Come back tomorrow to see the last two of my make-and-take (or more appropriately, take-and-make) projects from Convention. Thanks for stopping by!

A year of sweet treats

My grandma's birthday is just a couple of days before Christmas, so it can be tricky to come up with ideas for birthday and Christmas presents at the same time. (And we always try to make sure the birthday present, including the wrapping paper, is not Christmas-y.) This year my mom and sister decided to give Grandma a "membership" in our own treat-of-the-month club, so each month in 2014 one of us will bake her a sweet treat -- cookies, bars, cupcakes, etc. To present the gift, my sister typed up a certificate, and I created this card to hold the certificate:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Grandma's Kitchen, Guilty Pleasures (both Raisin Boat)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Cherry Cobbler, Baked Brown Sugar, Blushing BRide, Chocolate Chip, Smoky Slate, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Decorative Dots embossing folder, Blender Pen, Glue Dots, corner rounder, Dimensionals

Pretty yummy-looking, if I do say so myself. I stamped the images with Jet Black StazOn ink on Whisper White cardstock and then used a Blender Pen and ink pads to color them. (You can't really tell in the photo, but the inside of the piece of cake is a very pale pink.) I cut out the images and adhered them to an embossed Cherry Cobbler card base. (The Decorative Dots embossing folder will be available during Stampin' Up!'s 2014 Sale-A-Bration promo.)

The sentiment was a little trickier to create. I had two different options -- "Sweet" and "Treat yourself" -- but neither was exactly what I wanted. So I made some modifications and came up with my own sentiment. I started by stamping "Sweet" on a strip of white cardstock. Then I inked  up and stamped just "Treat." To make it plural, I used a marker to ink just the "s" in "yourself" and stamped it at the end of "Treat." (Thank goodness for clear stamps!) I trimmed the left side of the strip into a V and adhered it to the card, slipping the right edge behind the cookie jar image.

My Grandma still does some baking (her strudel is one of my favorite Christmas treats), but food always tastes better when someone else does the work, right? I think I'm going to have to dig out my recipe for caramel graham fudge brownies. Yum! Thanks for stopping by!

Simple, sweet and flowery

Happy Christmas! I hope you had a wonderful holiday, whether it was quiet and contemplative or busy and boisterous. I visited with family on Christmas Eve and Day, ate too much delicious food and opened presents from Santa (including new Legos to add to Snowburg!). Of course with all the festivities the past few days, I haven't had time for crafting, but I do have one little card to share that I made a few weeks ago. It's simple, sweet and flowery -- three of my favorite things.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Cardstock: Rose Red, Night of Navy
Accessories: Gingham Garden washi tape, Pansy punch, 1-1/4" scallop circle punch, corner rounder, large pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

I needed four quick thank-you cards, and with no stamping required this 3" x 3" design was the perfect option. Two pieces of washi tape and a few punches were all I needed. For a little dimension I curled up the edges on the flower and scallop circle shapes and then placed a large pearl in the middle of the flower.

This would be a fun design to use for a set of cards; you could use different color combinations, change the washi tape or use strips Designer Series Paper instead. You could even make this as a 3" x 3" panel to layer on a larger card. Thanks for stopping by!

Last Creative Crew card

With all the holiday hoopla I forgot to share my final card from the December Creative Crew challenges:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Postage Collection, Four You
Paper: Very Vanilla cardstock, First Edition Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: 1" circle punch, Neutrals Candy Dots, Dimensionals

This challenge focused on the colors Basic Black and Very Vanilla. We were asked to use those two colors and/or Modern Medley DSP and CASE (copy and share everything) the work of someone we admire. For my inspiration I used this clean and simple card by Lydia Fiedler.

I kept the same basic layout as my inspiration card: three small images in circles and a greeting placed at the bottom of the card. I love the touches of color on Lydia's card, but since I was using just black and vanilla, I needed to find a different way to accent the images. So instead of color, I used a print, placing a strip of First Edition DSP behind the circles. I also added a simple embellishment: three Very Vanilla Candy Dots in the upper left corner of the card.

Being on the Creative Crew was a great experience, and I hope you enjoyed my projects. Thanks for stopping by!