Gift bag topper

Bought a used die by Sizzix For Stampin Up "Clear Oval Accent" for $2.00 from another stamper. Knew I would use it for a treat bag topper for Christmas this year and here are a couple of photos of this die in use:

This next bag topper I added a paper doily to it:

This is a large die and for the treat bag topper I used the die piece folded in half. Here is a photo of the die and a piece of copy paper I had die cut for my pattern:

With the copy paper die cut piece I folded it in half width wise so I would have the center of the die cut piece. Using a pencil I made a small line on the center fold so I would know where the center of this die cut piece was:

I die cut my red card stock for my treat toppers that I would need. I laid the copy paper die cut pattern piece over the red card stock pieces and marked the center of the red die cut pieces using the center pencil line on the copy paper pattern:

With the center marked on all the die cut red pieces I was able to score them down the center on the score board. Once scored I used a bone folder to crease the scored lines. These red pieces would fit over the top edges of my treat bags. For the greeting I used a stamp from Close To My Heart and stamped that onto white/GP card stock using red ink. Used a 2" circle punch and punched out the greeting piece. Put these circles onto the red die cut pieces using the ATG.

For the bows I used the SU Bow Builder punch. The Christmas tree is a punch from Hobby Lobby and I used glittered card stocks for the trees. For some of the treat bags I added red crystals from the stash. With the red die cut pieces decorated I put them on the front of the treat bags using tear and tape. The folded red die cut piece goes over the top edge of the front of the treat bags. Once that was done I put my smaller treat holders inside the bags and added paper shred to the bags.

For the bag with the doily after I had decorated the red die cut piece I put a white paper doily under the decorated end of the die cut piece using tear and tape. Then I put this onto the treat bag. With all the treat bags filled I added a regular sized candy cane to the bags and hung one of the snowman tags on the candy cane - here is a photo of the snowman tag:

Happy to be able to pick up the Oval Accent die for $2.00 earlier this year. Am sure it will get more use in future projects as well.

Christmas Cards

Here are some photos of Christmas cards I made for this year:

For the card with the ornaments I used two Stampin Up stamp/die sets. Some of the cards I used the detailed circle ornament die from the SU Embellished Ornaments over a plain circle die cut piece. For other ornament cards I used the same detailed ornament die and I used the solid ornament die from the SU set Ornament Keepsakes. Here is a photo to show the two different ornaments:

The green ornament on the left is over a die cut circle piece. The red ornament is over the solid die cut ornament piece:

The above photo shows the difference between the two ornaments. Having the silver ornament base show around the red ornament piece gives the ornament dimension. Did not know these two die sets would work together until I tried it out. All the sprigs on these ornaments were made using a punch from M Stewart and I added crystals from the stash to the center of the bows on the ornaments when the cards were complete.  TFL

Christmas Treat Holders

This post will show some of the treat holders and projects I made for this Christmas season:

Tags from the office supply store that I turned into snowman tags using a snowman face stamp from Morningstarstamps.com with a curved tab punch for a hat and holly stickers from HobLob:

And Santa Nuggets with a tray:

The mason jar box treat holder:

Pillow boxes:

Candy Cane Seeds made with individually wrapped peppermint candies:

Santa Tootsie Pop Holders:

Snuggets:

Free standing Ghirardelli treat holders:

and the Snowman Hanger to hang on a gift bag handle or a tree:

Always fun to work on Christmas projects! Now working on de - redding and de - greening the craft room!  TFL

Einstein has left the building . . .

Love when I see a card out in the "internet universe" only to not be able to find an original post or the how-to's or anything.... but it is what it is.... Here is my version of that card and the how-to's to how I put mine together:

Wanted to make this card since it seemed simple to put together and it has a rustic look which I wanted. Where to begin?

I already had the snowflake die used for the white snowflake for the center of the card so thinking I was set to go the process began.... Die cut my snowflake using #110 weight card stock from Mikes. With that cut I measured the width/length of the snowflake so I would know what size circle behind it I would need. I used the Layering Circles die set from Stampin Up and die cut a white circle using white/GP card stock for the larger white circle. Using a smaller circle die from that die set I cut out a green printed circle, a red printed circle, and an ivy printed circle. Figured to get this circle look for the card I would die cut the printed circles, find the center of the circle on the back side using a ruler, and then cut these circles into quarters and WA LA !! I would have my pieces for my printed circle to go behind the snowflake.... Great idea but wrong! Here is a photo of the first attempt to this circle:

Looked great and should work... until it didn't -- not all the pieces would line up to make a perfect circle so off to plan B....

This time I used copy paper and die cut the same larger circle I used for the white circle on the card. With the copy paper circle die cut out I folded it in half and then into quarters - using that folded copy paper circle in quarters and a pencil I traced the quarter circle shape onto the backside of the printed card stock. Took it to the trimmer and trimmed it on the pencil lines.  Did this twice with the ivy print and once for the green and then the red which gave me the four circles. Here is that photo:

To put these printed pieces together first I had cut a second larger circle from white/GP to use as a base and I covered that with the ATG for adhesive and then put the four quarter pieces onto that. With all the pieces on the circle base I used the smaller circle die I needed for this printed circle and die cut that out:

After my printed circle was cut:

By making the printed circle larger than what I needed and then cutting it down to the circle size I would need using the smaller circle die this circle would have even edges and have a more finished look. With this printed circle cut out I put it onto the white/GP larger circle using the ATG.

For the snowflake I die cut the white snowflake out of the heavier weight white card stock from Mikes. For the light brown snowflake I used a smaller snowflake die and cut it out of the SU Crumb Cake card stock to match the card stock base for my card. Layered the two snowflakes using glue. Set these aside.

Using the SU Banners die set I die cut a banner that was a bit smaller than my white circle behind my snowflake/circle piece. Die cut that using white/GP and stamped a greeting on that using red ink* from Impression Obsession and the stamp is also theirs.  For the card stock base I cut and scored a piece of the Crumb Cake card stock at the top. Using a pencil and ruler I made a light pencil line across the front of the card base. Using a piece of the red printed card stock I cut that to about 3/4" wide to put across the card front using the pencil line to keep it straight.  Put that onto the card front using the ATG.

Put the greeting banner onto the red printed strip piece with tear and tape. Put the circle die cut pieces over the top of the banner using the ATG. Put the snowflakes piece onto a pop dot and put them in the center of the printed circle piece.  Using a small snowflake die I cut out snowflakes from white glittered card stock. Put three small snowflakes onto the card front using glue dots.  Added a red crystal to the center of the snowflakes piece. This card turned out well once I figured out how to make it . . . but clearly no Einstein in this craft room!! ;0)

* Red ink - My plan for this card was to use a darker, richer looking red ink for the greeting. Figured my best bet would be to use my Stampin Up Cherry Cobbler ink to match the red on my prints. Here is a photo of both my Raspberry Ripple and the Cherry Cobbler ink pads:

Now a photo to see them opened:

SOOOO not happy with the bumps and mess on each of these ink pads. I do not understand what is wrong with either of them - I do not store my ink pads near a window or the heat or air conditioning vents or on their sides. They are stored in a stamp pad holder from Organize More and I store other brands also in this holder and none of the other brands have ever done this so clearly it is the formula that SU uses for their "new" foam ink pads. But happy to say the red ink from Impression Obsession is a good Christmas red and it worked well for this card. Needless to say these two ink pads are no longer usable for me...

Family of Flakes

LOVE the Snowmen face stamps from Morningstar and I always make the Snuggets that are Hershey Nuggets for every one for Christmas... I sometimes also make Snowman face tags to hang on gift tags or gift bags, etc.... This year I wanted to use my small Snowman face stamp for another project and I am very happy how they turned out -- first here is the link to buy the Snowman face stamps from Morningstar -- I own both the small and larger face stamps but for this project I used the small one:

http://morningstarstamps.com/stamps/snowmen.html

To start this project I wanted to make something that I could hang from the handle on a gift bag. I also wanted to use items I already had on hand in my craft room and here is what I made:

The photo above shows two of the wooden "Snowman Hangers" that I made - I named them that because they can hang off the handle of a gift bag or even be hung on a tree or something. To start with the only wood for crafting I had in my craft room are the wooden craft sticks that are 1 inch wide and approx 8 inches long.  I had no pattern to go by but decided I wanted them to be approx 3 inches long from the curve of the stick to the bottom of the snowman.

Using crafting scissors I measured the 3 inches and cut the craft stick. Did not like that it was so thin so decided to cut another 3 inch stick and glue them together to make them thicker. Once dried I decided that would be the way to make them but.... wanted to be able to hang these Snowmen Hangers so I would have to get a piece of twine on the stick for hanging. . . Decided the best way to do this would be to have a hole in the top of the stick - the curved end under the hat - for the twine.  Using a scrap piece of the craft stick (single layer) I used a small hole punch and gently punched a hole for the twine. I was happy the hole punch did not cause my stick to crack or break! With this all figured out I started all over --

Using the full 1 x 8 craft stick I used the hole punch near the curved ends of the stick for the twine to go through. (I measured this so the holes on all the craft sticks would line up).  With the holes made I glued the two long sticks together to make my snowman thicker using wood glue. Once the glue dried (does not take long) I asked DH if he would cut my sticks into 3 inch lengths and he did - I made a lot of these and he could cut them faster than I would be able to. With all the snowmen cut to length I used white craft paint and painted the front of the snowman. Once dried I painted the back of him.

Here are some photos to show how I added the twine to my dried double layered snowmen:

I used an awl to get any paint out of the holes for the twine to run through on the front and back pieces of my snowman. I used a large eyed needle to put black thread through the hole for the twine. I ran the twine (approx 10 inches long) over the black thread before I pulled the black thread through the holes -- this photo might show this better:

With the twine through the holes I used Memento black ink and stamped the small Snowman face stamp on the craft stick about a 1/3 of the way down from the top curve of the stick.  Then I cut the hat for the snowman. His hat is a finger tip from a black pair of soft gloves from the dollar store.  To attach the hat to the snowman stick I used tear and tape on the front of the stick and the back of the stick.  I put the twine through the large eyed needle and put it through the center top of his hat:

With the twine through the top of the hat I peeled off the tear and tape paper backing. I flipped up the bottom of the hat to give it a brim and positioned the hat were I wanted it. Once it was in place I pressed the hat into the tape to hold it on the snowman. Using an orange marker I coloured in his nose.

Below his face I added more tear and tape to the front and back of the snowman stick to hold my ribbon/scarf piece. Cut the plaid ribbon a little longer than I wanted and wrapped it from the back of the snowman to the front of him. Pressed it in place. Snipped off the ends of the ribbon I did not need. To dress up this ribbon scarf I used a small snowflake die and die cut a snowflake from white glittered card stock. Put the snowflake on top of the ribbon where the pieces over lap. Added a red crystal to the center of the snowflake on the ribbon.

Here is a holiday family photo including the new members -- ;0)   haha:

So all in all being "flakey" is fun and the small Snowman face stamp is perfect for all the projects I put together! TFL