Clear Treat Box

 Had seen this treat holder made by Patti Dolan on YouTube and I had to make some - here is the link to her video and it is easy to follow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4E_G_b__V0&t=755s

Here is a photo of my treat holders:

She used the acetate boxes from SU for her treat holders:

As she explains in her video she left the box flat and measured the length and then marked it at the half way point which is 4" and she cut the box in half using scissors. I did the same and here is one of the boxes cut in half:

I put the box together as a half box and I measured it for the card stock I used - for my boxes I used only double sided card stocks and for the box piece I cut my printed card stock 5 1/2" long by 4 3/8" wide. Using a large scallop die I die cut one of the straight edges of my card stock piece:

With the opposite end from the scallop end (the straight cut end) I put the straight edge on the left side of the scoreboard and scored this piece at 3" and again at 3 5/8". Used a bone folder to crease these lines:

I used Dove chocolate hearts for the candies in this holder and I put those on the card stock using a large glue dot to keep them in place. With the candies on the card stock I slid this into the half acetate box. To keep this holder closed I made a belly band as she had in the video but when I make belly bands I do not pre score them first. I wrap them around the holder and finger press the crease lines. For my belly band I cut a piece of card stock 1" x 8" and once the creases were finger pressed I used a bone folder to crease those lines. I put the belly band together using tear and tape. 

For the circle greeting I used a Valentine stamp from the stash and a circle punch to cut those out. For the gold scallop pieces behind the greeting I used gold foil poster board sheets from the Dollar Tree and a scalloped circle punch to punch those out. Used a small heart punch for the hearts in the center of the greeting circles.

The belly band is attached to itself so it can easily slide off the holder:

You can put the belly band in the center of your holder:

But you can also put it to the side as well:

Here is a photo to show the back of these treat holders:

Because you can see the card stock through the clear boxes you need to use double sided card stocks. Also if you should use a directional pattern remember when it is used as the front flap on this treat holder your pattern will be upside down on the front scalloped flap so be sure to use a non directional pattern.  Thanks to Patti for sharing her cute treat holder for Valentine's Day and her easy to follow video on YouTube for this!

Valentine Treat Holders

 Had seen a video on YouTube from Whimsy Stamps for this cute Valentine's treat holder:

In the video she die cut the treat holder out and then randomly stamped the hearts in the stamp set over that piece. I tried that but I decided it was easier to just stamp the rectangle piece I had cut out to die cut the treat holder from. Here is my stamped piece before it was die cut:

And after it was cut out:

I stamped all my rectangle pieces and then die cut them out. Put the boxes together:

Used a Hugs & Kisses stamp from the stash and stamped that onto scrap white card stock using red ink. Used a small tag punch from the stash and punched the tags out. Used a small circle punch for the tag top. Added a red heart crystal to the top of the tags. 

Put Hershey chocolate hearts and small Reese's peanut butter cup inside with some red paper shred. Tied the box closed using twine and tied the tag on to that and made a bow:

This is my second purchase from Whimsy Stamps as until recently I had not heard of them before. Their products work well and the die cut my #110 weight white card stock easily and the stamps stamp a good impression with each different manufacturers ink I used for all the colours on the treat boxes. Easy treat holder to put together. 

Illusion Heart Valentine Card

 Used the Altenew die set Illusion Heart for this Valentine card - here is a photo of the die set:

I wanted to have a two tone heart on my card so I cut my heart out of silver glittered card stock and also out of red mirrored card stock and put these pieces together. Here is my card:

Here is a photo of the two tuned heart:

For this card I used a black card stock base of #110 card stock from Mikes. Cut and scored that at the top. For the silver glittered frame piece I die cut a frame from a smoother silver glittered card stock. I did not want that to be flat on the card front so I die cut two black frames and used liquid glue to put those under the silver glittered frame. Set that aside to dry. Put the red and silver glittered die cut heart pieces together using double sided tape under it to hold the pieces together. 

For the "LOVE" I die cut that out of silver mirrored card stock and red mirrored card stock and then put the pieces together. Used Press N Seal to put the letters on the card front using liquid glue. Once that was in place I put the heart piece on the card front. Put the silver frame on the card front using tear and tape. Added two red heart crystals next to the "LOVE" using mini glue dots. Easy card to put together and looks much better IRL than with a camera. Lots of sparkle and shine. 

Hearts Valentine Card

 

Used the SimonSaysStamp Radiating Hearts Background stamp for this card:

Pink card stock base is cut and scored on the side. The hearts printed card stock is from Close To My Heart. Used the ATG to put the hearts print on the card stock base.  The center piece is stamped and heat embossed using white embossing powder. I trimmed that to the size I wanted for the card front and used a frame die set from the stash to die cut the frame piece out.  Put the frame piece over the embossed piece using tear and tape. Used foam tape to put the framed piece on the card front. Added heart shaped Droplets from Kat Scrappiness (from my PIC) using Glossy Accents. 

For the "love" I die cut that out of silver poster board sheets from Dollar Tree. Layered that onto die cut white card stock using liquid glue. Once dried I used liquid glue to add it to the card front. Here is a photo to show the sparkle and shine of the "love" die cut piece:

Ombre Thanks Card

 

This card was inspired by Cassie Trask on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYjfXbKyVg8

I have never done ombre stamping due to the lines from one colour to the other that were visible and made a line on the stamp. Cassie Trask shows how to do ombre stamping without the lines from one shade to another. I did not have any products by Simon Hurley until I saw her video and I ordered the floral background stamp she used on her card - Sketched Bouquet. Using all her tips I was able to make this card for a thank you:

I will say the Simon Hurley background stamp is well made and it has a lot of detail and being floral I am sure it will get use for Spring projects. For this card I used a purple shade of card stock scored and folded at the top. Cut a piece of white/GP for the card front.  Cut a second white/GP piece to stamp on using different inks. Once that was stamped I used the A2 frame die set from Waffle Flower and die cut the floral background piece to fit on the card front. Put the card layers together using the ATG. 

Using a "thanks" die from the stash I cut that out of purple card stock and the shadow is cut out of vellum. Put these together using liquid glue and put them on the card front. My PIC (stamping Partner In Crime) gifted me the clear Droplets from Kat Scrappiness for Christmas so I put some of those on the card front:

Thanks to Cassie for sharing her tips making an ombre backgrounds to avoid the lines. TFL

Valentine Cards

 For these two cards I used the new die from Divinity Designs "Pierced Heart Background". This die has a lot of detail yet it cut the card stock nicely and it is easy to use. Here are the two cards:

For the card on the left I used kraft card stock for the base and the card on the right I used red card stock. Here is a closer photo of the red card:

The cards are cut and scored at the top.  Die cut the white/GP piece for the card front. Used liquid glue to put the white die cut piece onto the card base. For the heart on the front I wanted to use some of the many rolls of Valentine washi tape from the stash. Not all washi tape is the same thickness and not all washi tape has the same adhesive. To be sure the washi tape would not lift off the heart card stock base I used ModPodge to adhere the washi. I used a heart die set from the stash and die cut a heart using scraps of 110# weight white card stock. I used a small paint brush and covered the heart using Mod Podge. Used Valentine washi tapes to cover the white heart piece. With the heart covered I then put Mod Podge over the tape on the front of the heart and set that aside to dry. Once dried I used scissors to cut off any extra washi tape on the edges. Then used the Mod Podge to seal the edges and set it aside to dry. 

For the gold foil "love" at the bottom of the card front I used foil poster board sheets from the Dollar Tree and a "love" die from the stash. Die cut the gold foil piece and cut out two more "love" pieces using scrap white card stock. Layered the two white love pieces using liquid glue and then glued the gold foil "love" on top of those. This gives it dimension on the card front. I added two gold foil cards next to the "love" word. 

Wanted to bring the front of the card to the inside of the card. I die cut two pieces of white/GP to make a 'stencil' and using blender brushes I went over the stencil pieces using inks to match the card fronts. Here is a photo of the two stencil pieces I made:

Here is a photo of the inside of the cards:

I wanted the pattern to be very light and darker in some areas and lighter in others but I did not want it to be exact and to cover the whole inside piece. The "Happy Valentine's Day" stamp is an old wooden stamp from the stash and I used red ink for that. 

Here are photos to show the gold foil and the red mirrored card stocks used for the "love" words on the card front:

For the heart on the kraft card I used scrap white card stock and covered that with two pieces of 2" wide tear and tape and then put the various washi tapes over that. Once the card stock was covered I die cut out the hearts from that and that also works to keep the washi tape adhered to the card stock and the die cutting process seals the edges of the tape on the hearts. Easy card to put together and both the ModPodge and tear and tape work keeping the washi tapes adhered on the heart.  

The die from Divinity Designs for the heart pattern on the card front gives the card front lots of dimension and I took all the die cut hearts out of the piece but they could have been left in here and there to give the card front a totally different look.  I have lots of Divinity Designs dies and they all cut beautifully on the thinner and thicker card stocks and this die does as well. Happy I had seen their YouTube video on their new January release which is why I bought this die......  TFL

Side hobby . . . Stalking the mailman.....

 

Have seen videos on YouTube with crafters having the Altenew Cutting Craft Mat on their work tables. It is a sizable mat - 18 x 24 - is double sided - inches on one side and centimeters on the other . . .  I shopped around for this mat and Altenew sells it on their website for $34.99. I checked SimonSaysStamp and they marked it up to $39.99. . . Other sites also sell the mat but shipping cancels this purchase out. . . 

In December I had received a card in the mail from Simon Says with a special code that would take $15.00 off any purchase I made. But I did not like that they had raised the price of the mat on their website. I basically forgot about the special code until . . .   Right before Christmas I got an email from Simon Says telling me I could "qualify for up to 25% off my purchase".  I checked to see what percentage I would qualify for and of course it was 15%....  :0(   

The cost for the mat would be $25.00 if I used the $15.00 off code or $10.00 off if I went with the 15% off.... Well I thought about it for a couple of days as my coupon code was only valid until the 31st of December. I decided to just order it using the $15.00 code and it was what it was and I was happy to have the special code to use.... I went on the website, ordered the mat and put in the $15.00 code on the check out page -- MUCH to my surprise Simon also automatically gave me the 15% off as well!  So my $39.99 Altenew mat was $18.99 and here it is:

The black side of the mat is in inches and it has the lines for an A2 card as well as the darker lines for a 12 x 12 layout. Flipped over to the other side:

The second side also has markings for a card or 12 x 12 layout and this side is in centimeters. This is a sizable mat and is a welcomed addition to this craft room. I was using the glass mat from We R Memory Keepers but it is glass (too much glare for photos) and much smaller and you have to be careful not to scrap it or break it - altho I will move that to another counter in the craft room and still use it.  This Altenew mat is for my main work table and I am very happy it is here and I no longer have to stalk the mailman....

This mat is sizable and has a good thickness and it is not flimsy.  LOTS of lines for helping to keep things lined up and straight without having to get out rulers or drawing a light pencil line. Happy it is here for sure!

Spellbinders Sale

 Spellbinders is having a big sale on their website -   www.spellbinderspaperarts.com and this is not just a sale for holiday products.  I have not ordered much from online holiday sales due to the craft room being a mess from holiday crafting and some times you just have to take a step back from it all . . .  but.... this sale at Spellbinders was too good to pass up for this crafter. . . 

They have different monthly clubs they offer each month and I am member of their Small Die of the Month club. I have seen products from their other clubs they offer but the small die club seemed to be the most affordable for me and also the dies are ones I would get use out of since I make cards and treat holders and smaller projects.  Until -- I had seen the Large Die of the Month club selection for October 2018 which is the "Truckin' Through the Seasons" die set. Very cute and lots of possibilities but I never bought it at the $35 price for the set until . . .

This sale they are holding "Pop, Fizz, Clink" has lots of great products with up to 50% savings. Happy me this die set was 50% off:

This truck die set has dies for die cutting a present, a pumpkin, beach balls, greenery, etc.  Lot you can use this for other than just a Christmas holiday set. Plus the packaging has photos to help with assembly:

Happy to have this 25 piece die set for the sale price of $17.50! I have seen so many crafters use this die set for their projects so lots of inspiration out there. I also bought two sentiment sets, also 50% off:

Also picked up a Glimmer Hot Foil plate for Christmas:

Good additions to the craft room and esp at the 50% off prices. . .   Have not bought anything else as I do not need anything but if a good sale happens that is too good to miss.... you at least have to look! :0)