Giveaway + Pretty Little Studio Blog Hop

It's a holiday hop! So happy you've stopped in today. I have a couple of Pretty Little Studio projects I've created in celebration of this hop.

Woodland Christmas
I was delighted to receive pieces from this darling collection and put them to work on a few holly jolly projects.

Since Mr. Claus himself will be visiting in less than a month, I decided to help Maggie prepare her wish list. To do this, I created a pocket by stitching two of the Twas the Night Bookmark Tags together.

Before stitching, I added a few decorative embellishments to the pocket, including a slice of doily, a strip of washi tape, a sequin, and one of the Pretty Little Studio Balsam Fir Paper Ribbon.

To make sure this works as a pocket, I didn't stitch across the top. I left it open so a tag could be slipped inside for Santa.

I made sure to wrap part of the embellishment cluster around back, creating a quick front/back embellishment approach. To complete the back, I added Maggie's name, using stickers from BasicGrey, and sprinkled on a few small toppings (heart and star).

For Maggie's wish list, I simply noted a few things I knew she'd love using a Shipping Tag from Pretty Little Studio and my typewriter.

I then inserted the tag into my stitched pocket. Top things off with a little homemade popcorn ball and, of course, a glass of milk, and you've got a gift the big man in red will cherish.

My Layout
Now, time to go back in time to last Christmas. I'm so happy to finally have a layout done about that joyous time in our lives. This line was just the ticket for completing such a project.

I was immediately drawn to the various stars in this line and knew I wanted to incorporate them throughout. Since Maggie is our own little star, it only made sense that the page be about her. And no time shines quite like Christmas time, so it was a perfect pairing.

I cut strips from the 8x8 star paper to create the border on the left side of the page.

I used this same paper on one of my grid pieces, as well as a slice of doily and this darling Pretty Little Studio flair.

As fun as a good banner can be, I decided to turn one of these cute Spruce Pine Bunting Flags on its head instead, making it a Christmas tree.

The ornaments are dots to letter Is in my Making Memories sticker sheet. The trunk is a letter T from the same set.

These fun file-folder tabs offer much creative potential. Unfortunately, they were a bit large for my grid purposes. No problem. I simply altered them a bit to dress up a few of my pictures.

On a layout where I want to include as many photos as possible, I'm all for space-saving solutions when it comes to journaling, which is why I created this flip tag.

To create the journaling flap, I simply stitched one of the sassy Twas the Night Bookmark Tags to one of the Shipping Tags (similar to the tags shown below). By scoring along the seam before stitching, it created an easy-to-open door.

Finally, I added a little twinkle twinkle by punching a star from my cardstock, adding a few of the Woodgrain Star Stickers around the negative shape (area where I punched), and topping it with tracing paper. From there, I added a couple of stars on top of the tracing paper to complete this grid square.

Hop to shop! 
From this hop, you'll want to shop. The Pretty Little Studio shop has so much to choose from, and much of it is under $5, so this prize of five buckaroos will hook you up with a ticket to some new delights. For a chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post between now and Friday, Dec. 6.

Hey, kid, hop and roll; hop on!
Great news! Every hop stop has a giveaway attached, so you'll want to visit each of the sites and leave a love note at each stop along the way for more chances to win.

Next hop stop on the list: the incredible Maggie Holmes. Tell her I said hello while you're there, okay? :)

For a complete list of hopper bloggers, check out the Pretty Little Studio blog.

And don't forget to visit Pretty Little Studio for complete information on all the happiness happening today with their fabulous Cyber Monday sale. It's only a two-day event, so you'll want to act fast!

Thanks so much for visiting today! I always love hearing from you and appreciate your support!

Cheers!

Perfect Pen Giveaway and Tricky Tags!

If you’re like me, procrastination is your game and you’re just now getting to the gift wrapping. That’s okay. You still have time to make those gifts stand out with your own gift-tag creations. I put together a few tags for Creating Keepsakes and Studio 5 recently. I thought I’d share a couple of those with you here. 

Bitty ‘Bot Santa

I had fun making a bitty robot Santa tag using fabric from Cosmo Cricket. 

First, cut two of the same robot from the fabric.

Next, stitch those pieces together (wrong sides together), adding a little puff of cotton from a cotton ball to the middle.

Santa needs his hat, so I used these cute hat stickers from Jolee’s to top my robot off. I selected hats that were mirror images (opposites) so I could stick one to the other to adhere them to my bitty ‘bot. 

When your Santa is done, string a little twine through his hat and you've got yourself a groovy tag (or ornament). Domo arigato, Santa! 

Cone Kiss Tag 

This bitty cone tag doubles as a gift. You see, if you untie the baker's twine, there's a surprise inside the cone—a sweet chocolate Kiss. Fold the cone from an old sheet of book paper, insert a bit of tissue paper along the inside rim, attach a handles, add your Kiss (point down), and tie the cone shut with a piece of baker’s twine. Write your gift recipient’s name on a tiny tag, and attach it to the cone using the twine. 

Bitty Box Tag 

Dress up a bitty box (I used decorative tape and sequins) and use it as a tag on a bigger box. You can either insert the "to/from" alone in the box, or you can insert a smaller gift in the box for a double surprise!

Give a Gift Tag Set Last year, I created these boxes of tags and gave them as gifts. It’s as easy as using scraps from your creative stash and a few shaped punches, and you can create an entire collection of one-of-a-kind tags. Throw in a few fantastic pens to complete the gift, and you have something your gift recipient can use throughout the year. 

Pen Giveaway!
Speaking of fantastic pens. I recently had the pleasure of receiving as assortment of JetPens, and I love them! They have pens for any and all of your pen needs, from gels pens and brush pens to craft pens and and so much more! And they want to spread the holiday cheer by offering one of you a $25 gift certificate to pick and choose your own assortment of awesome pens from their website! Simply leave me a comment here between now and Monday, Dec. 27 and I’ll randomly select a winner. Trust me, this is one prize you’ll want to win. :)

More Tags

Looking for more tag ideas? Please check out my latest Studio 5 segment and check out the Creating Keepsakes blog. Thanks for playing this game of tag with me!

Cheers! 

Love @ Home Recipe Box Project

I’m headed over to Studio 5 this morning for a fun crafting segment. Here’s one of the projects I’ll be sharing. The theme of the segment is celebrating the little things, and this altered recipe box is a way to write down and keep track of those memorable moments. Simply write down the moments you want to remember on the enclosed notecards, which I created from lined patterned paper and cardstock. 

Here’s something I’d write down for the box. “I’m thankful for a husband who is kind enough to tell me when my L in “love” is upside down and who can tell me in a gentle way so that I don’t feel completely mental.” (BTW, the “L” has been switched since this picture was taken. 

I made divider cards for from cardstock and used chipboard buttons as the tabs. You can put in a divider card for each member of your family. 

Thanksgiving Alternative

Are you headed somewhere this Thanksgiving? If so, consider taking a recipe box with a favorite recipe or two as a hostess gift. Whether you create your box or buy a box, this is a thoughtful gift that I’m sure any hostess would appreciate!

Cheers!

P.S. For more of my Studio 5 projects, check out my segments here. 

Thx and a card how-to

I have much to be thankful for, so I decided to share this Thx card with you. But I’d first like to thank a few friends:

1. Skipping Stones Designs for raising more than $1,000 for the Susan G. Koman Foundation last month in their blog hop. (BTW, today is the last day of an awesome 33% of promotion they have going on. If you’re in the market for new stamps, you should check them out.)
2. My talented friend Kimber, who helped Skipping Stones reach their wonderful goal by placing the winning bid for my cards and bracelet, as well as all of the other beautiful friends who put in bids.
3. My dear friend Reyanna, for sending a random package of kindness my way. It came just when I needed it, sweet girl!
4. My incredible pal Holly, who hosted an awesome craft boutique last Friday and let me participate. And all of the happy friends (new and old) who came out to enjoy a little creative fun.

What a delightful list! Now, let’s put this card together:

Step 1: Accordion fold strips of dictionary paper and fold to form flower shape; color flower with spray ink.

Step 2: Stamp “Thx” and punch out sentiment with circle punch. Adhere sentiment and splash of tulle to center of your accordion flower.

Step 3: Color doily with spray ink, cut doily into fourths, and fold fourth into cone to create leaf. Adhere leaf to card base with sewing machine.

Step 4: Cut strip of dictionary paper and stitch to card base to create grass.

Step 5: Attach flower to top of stitched stem to complete card.

Supplies: Cardstock: Die Cuts with a View; Stamp: American Crafts; Ink: Stampin' Up!; Spray ink: Tattered Angels; Glitter pen: Copic; Circle punch: Martha Stewart Crafts; Adhesive: Beacon's; Other: Dictionary paper, doily, and tulle.

Thx for visiting today!

Halloween Costume Party 2010

Yesterday, Cor and I had the pleasure of showing off our plumber’s cracks at a hauntingly good Halloween brunch. (Thanks, Brady and Andrew!)

We were asked to bring a little treat, so I went with Mario mystery boxes (AKA Ghirardelli chocolates covered with cardstock question marks.) I simply copied the question box from this website, pasted it several times in a Word file, and printed it on cardstock. I then cut it out and adhered it to the chocolate for a surprise sweet!

BTW, our costumes were inspired by this awesome 80s cartoon (and the game, of course). Do you remember this gem? "Come on, it's time to go. Do the Mario!"

Over at Cackling Keepsakes magazine, we didn’t dress up this year. Instead it was business as usual for our team. I kid. I kid. We came to work as a pretty coven of creepies.

For this celebration, I filled these small candle holders from IKEA with candy.

From cute candle holder to bubbling cauldron in minutes.

Naturally, I have a couple of puppy pics to share as well. Little Jack was my witchy-poo pup this year, complete with a candy corn bandana.

Kiss, feeling too old for the costume craze, opted for a Halloween t-shirt, which reads “No tricks, just treats!” As you can see by the shirts snug fit, he gets more than his fair share of treats.

I hope you (and your pets) had a happy Halloween!

Cheers!

A Happy (and quick) Halloween Craft

Here’s a quick (and super cute) project idea, whether you’re headed to a party this weekend and need a hostess gift or you’re hosting a frightening fiesta and are in need of a fun favor. It’s a rolled paper candy corn!

Fill the cone with candy corns and tie it up with a little baker’s twine for a cute and creative Halloween treat.

I made these in a matter of minutes with a little white cardstock, a hot glue gun, and a bit of tissue paper. Quick and easy! Download the pattern for free and find instructions for creating this sweet treat here.

Happy (and sweet) haunting!

Halloween Happiness: A Card & a Banner

My creative garden is full of accordion flowers right now. I just can’t seem to get enough of these fun-to-make paper pretties. Here's a spirited assortment!

Another spooky goodie I can’t get enough of is this paper from Making Memories. I love the bitty playing cards. Aren’t they cute? That’s right, I’m calling Halloween ghosts and goblins “cute.”

I recently sat down and made a few projects using accordion flowers and this freaky-fun paper. First, I cut out the bitty cards and strung them on black tinsel, creating a festive little banner, which I hung using a couple of my flowers.

To string the cards, I simply punched two holes in the top of each card and threaded them on the tinsel.

Whenever I pull out my camera, the pups automatically think it’s showtime. Here’s Jack posing with the banner.

And even though Kisses is far too big to be jumping up on this bench, he too decided to get in on the fun! Silly old dog.

It’s not too late to make and send a happy haunt of a greeting. I used the playing cards to make this p...p...p...poker card. I think it needs a little ‘splainin’. You see the black upside down V is supposed to be a carrot--a tool in editing that indicates you’re inserting a word. “Full Haunted House.” Get it? Yeah, it’s probably not the best card if it requires explanation, but I do like the play on words.

The playing cards pull out of the paper-crimped pocket. I think it would be fun to write little notes on the back of them.

And here’s a look at the inside, complete with a little spooky laughter!

Halloween is coming! Such a fun time to paper craft and watch old-school cartoons. Which cartoon is your favorite? I think I’ll go watch The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and have a little more flower fun.

Cheers!

Gift-Card Holder Card

If you’re super computer savvy, you likely know that 100110 is the binary code for the ampersand (&). I don’t speak computer, but my coworker and her new hubby do. They selected 10-01-10 as their wedding date partially because of its binary meaning. Isn’t that romantic? It was my fun job to make the happy couple a wedding card from our entire magazine staff, which meant there needed to be plenty of room for signatures, as well as for a gift card. And I naturally needed to make the ampersand a significant feature on the card. This project is the result. Whether you need a group card or not, this idea is a creative way to give a gift card and show someone you care.

Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1: Fold 6x6 cardstock base and cut a small slit in the center of the card’s spine.

Note: The slit should be long enough that you can fit a strand of tulle through it.

Step 2: Punch a decorative border along top and bottom of card front. Then stamp the front of the card with a giant ampersand stamp like this one from Stampin’ Up!. I used Jenni Bowlin paint from Ranger to ink my stamp.

Step 3: Once the stamped image is dry, feed a strip of tulle through the slit in the spine of the card.

Step 4: Tie a knot in the center of the tulle and position the knot in the center of the card.

Step 5: Secure the tulle in place by adhering to the back front cover of the card.

Step 6: Conceal glued tulle by adhering a slightly smaller card base to the inside front cover, leaving the back flap of the base free. This creates a page in your card, which is great when you have a long message to leave or plenty of people who need to sign your card.

Step 7: Stamp a butterfly to complement the colors of your project. I also added a little color using my Copic markers and some more Ranger paint, and some texture with BasicGrey pearls. Adhere the butterfly to the center of your tulle bow.

Step 8: On the inside back cover, paint a smear of color using the same color of paint you used to stamp your ampersand.

Step 8: Spell “enjoy” over the painted area using letter stickers like these from BasicGrey.

Step 9: Stitch tulle pocket over the painted area of the inside back cover, and insert a gift card. Now, when your recipients removes the card they’ll see the little message waiting for them.

There you have it, a wedding card complete with a slot for that gift card. Ampersand day may be over, but this style will still make any couple happy you thought of them on any day of the year.

Cheers!

Cupcake-Liner Crafts: Part 2

Of all the cupcake-liner fun I had, this project is probably my favorite. It’s cupcake liner fortune cookies! They’d be great for baby showers, parties, weddings, or as a surprise in someone special’s lunch.

Fortune Cookies

They’re super easy to make!

1. Fold a regular cupcake liner in half.
2. Stitch (I used a sewing machine) around the outer edge of the liner.
3. Leave about 1/4” unstitched at the end. This is your opening to insert candy. (I used after-dinner mints, as they’re small and dry.)
4. With your finger, push the center up to create the fortune cookie shape.

Bottle Skirts

This is probably the easiest of my cupcake-liner projects. They’re bottle wraps. Simply remove the circle from the center of the liner and put the skirt around a bottle. Forget about marking your drinks at a party with a marker. This approach is cute and quick!

Quick Gift Wrap

Have a gift that needs wrapping? Use cupcake liners to dress up an ordinary gift box. Simply cut liners down so that the edges are short. Use the area you trimmed off to create a decorative center by twisting and gluing it into a spiral in the center.

Note: Cupcake liners are slick (so the cake won’t stick to them), so you’ll want to use a strong glue. I used Fabri-Tac by Beacon’s. Hot glue would work as well.

Liner Lanterns

These dangle-y delights are simply threaded cupcake liners. Used a needle and some baker’s twine to string them up. I started with a smaller liner and put a regular liner on top of it (with the edges cut down). You can string up one or add a bunch to a single string.

Cory calls these my mushrooms. I was going for lanterns, but, no matter what you choose to call them, they’ll make any room brighter! :)

I have one more project to share, a card, which I’ll post on Friday. In the meantime, you can watch my recent TV segment on these crafts here. And you can check out my past segments on the Creating Keepsakes website. Thanks!

Japanese Masking Tape Projects (and a little TV Time)

Domo arigato, Japan. Japanese masking tape is one of my favorite things to hit the crafting market in a long time. I love how versatile it is. Thanks to its not-so-tacky tack, I can put it on my wall without damaging the paint, and I can even peel and stick it on paper several times without messing up the paper. It’s a masking marvel. Check out a few things I created with it, using the Love My Tapes brand, for a local TV segment.

Build a Banner
I wrapped the tape around a ribbon and adhered it to itself to create this banner. It’s a quick way to dress up the home or the yard.

For a more seasonal take, I punched bits of cardstock and added letter stickers to spell “spring.” I then attached the letters using the pretty tape.

Create with Clothespins

The tape will adhere to several surfaces, including wood, so I used it to dress up an ordinary clothespin. It’s a unique way of adding a placecard to a table setting.

Tape Up Some Letterhead
I cut the tape into triangles and added a little stitching to create a banner across the paper. I will either add my name to the banner to create personalized stationery, or I will turn this into a scrapbook layout. Either way, this is a simple way to make a playful banner.

Wrap without Paper
You don’t need wrapping paper to dress up a present. Instead, wrap a basic box with Japanese masking tape. It’s colorful and quick…what a gift!

Enhance an Envelope
Make your letter standout from the crowd with a little tape.

And don’t forget the back. Slap a little tape on the flap.

What About You?

I know I’ll be doing more with this fun-to-use craft medium. Have you had a chance to play with it yet? What’s your favorite use?

TV Time

If you're interested, you can check out my Studio 5 segment, where I shared these and other projects. You'll love seeing what Darin, one of the hosts, did with the tape. It was very creative. Enjoy the show!

Also, you can check out several of my past Studio 5 appearances by visiting the section of the "Apperances" Creating Keepsakes website. Thanks for taking a peek. Your support is always appreciated. :)