Hi Everyone.
First off a big hello and thank-you to Liz and all her fantastic staff and customers who made me so welcome at the shop last weekend. I had so much fun and it was really great to meet so many of you.

I have a couple of ideas this week - SO easy to do and heaps of fun for a party

Placecards
One of the great things about visiting the shop at the weekend was being able to actually have a really good look at the products.


These Theresa Collins papers are of an amazing quality and I have used a spellbinders labels die to cut the shapes and simply folded them in half

Each of these are slightly different and again I have used the Cuttlebug die to create the notes.


Wine Glass Markers
Baubles
Here I have used a cuttlebug die to cut paper, chipboard and acrylic and sandwiched them all together!


I have used the Christmas Carnival Collection from Kaisercraft for both the paper and the buttons. Liz has these at a fantastic price at the moment too. A printed name label and a couple of rhinestones and these are completed in under an hour!

Holly
These really could not be simpler!


This time I have used the Kaisercraft Tis the Season Chipboard Holly Leaves and added some red rhinestones and a painted chipboard letter.

Circles
I have used the packaging from the Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Stickers and cut 2 scalloped circles, used one of the Stickers to decorate the front and decorated with an eyelet for a neat finish. 

A few beads on the ring for extra sparkle and again, these are put together really quickly.

I hope these have inspired you to have a go at creating your own wine glass markers! They are a great way to use up scraps and make a great keepsake from a party!
The rings are available from any bead store or you could just use a piece of wire tied around the base of the glass.

Any questions - just leave a comment!

Hi Everyone!
I have a few different ideas for the Stocking Stuffers and Scraps theme! I made heaps of kids party bag ideas this week BUT I have decided to keep them for a theme later in the countdown.

Stocking Stuffer - Music CD

OK - so who doesn't love Christmas Carols!!  One of my fave Christmas Collections (and fave collections of all time in fact) has been Kaisercrafts' "Christmas Carnival".  I understand they are not producing any more 12x12 papers, but I had heaps of embellishments left as well as the 6x6 pad, so I decided to make Liz a CD!


I have decorated a plain tin to put the CD into - I have mostly used pieces from the Christmas Carnival Collection along with some ribbon and rhinestones Liz sent in my DT bits and pieces. The star is from a old Thickers pack and I have stamped music onto using Stayzon Ink and the Kaiser Music Stamp. I had  been hoarding the musical note cuttlebug die for so long - I was thrilled to find a use for it!


This picture above show the CD tin open. I have printed a playlist for the inside cover and I made a folded paper holder for the CD


I also just a got a new printer which prints directly onto CD's so I was desperate to give that a whirl too. I was a bit naughty and just copied and pasted an image of the Kaiser paper from the internet for the CD and I used the Artfull Crafts font for the title.


There are some wonderful carols on the CD - I hope Liz enjoys them!


Scraps - Mini Christmas Keepsakes Album

This is a really simple album I put together. I have used plain cardstock for the pages and used my paper scraps to make a mat for some mini photos.  What I really love about this is the cover!





I took some plain red cardstock and run it through my cuttlebug with the Snowflakes embossing folder. I then inked over the raised part with some white ink before sealing with 2 layers of glossy mod-podge.  It's a really neat effect and somehow the combination of all three effects make it looks like embossed leather!



Scraps - Make your own Chipboard Buttons

OK- the awesome thing about making these is that you only need a 1" square piece of paper, and some cardboard (I use cereal boxes!!) Also - if you have kids that think playing with your craft punches without getting told off is cool - you will hardly have to do anything!


First I covered my paper scrap with glossy mod podge, then when it was dry I used my 1" circle punch to punch several layers of cardboard and one patterned paper circle and glued them all together.  It's not rocket science but it's a nice way to get a cheap embellishment from a piece of paper you might have otherwise thrown away. Of course you could make these any size and shape as long as you have a punch or die to get them exactly the same size and shape.

I have used the buttons here to decorate a couple of goodie bags.


I bought the bags from the $2 shop, removed the ties/ribbon and used my co-ordinating ribbon scraps to replace the ties.  Here I have used paper and ribbon from the Imaginisce Cottage Christmas and Kaisercrafts Lush collection

Hi Everyone. Lowri here again starting off this week with Homemade Gifts.  It's going to be interesting to see what everyone's interpretation of this category was - so here's mine!

Decorated Bottles
These bottles could be filled with anything, flavoured vodka, syrup, your favourite homemade plum sauce - you get the picture.  The exciting thing I discovered was how to cover the lids of any jars with patterned paper! I am getting round to finishing my tutorial on how to do this, and will let you know when I have finished it!
EDIT - You can now see the tutorial for the lids on my blog here!




I have just added some decoration with some flowers made from the Kaisercraft Be Merry Collection. If you want to know how the flowers are made - I have a tutorial on my blog and I have also e-mailed it to Liz, so you can pick up a copy in the shop.

Gift Tins
I have once again used the Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Collection for these tins. I bought them both  really cheaply and loved the fact they had the clear lids so you can see the goodies inside.


It really was as simple as wrapping the paper and ribbon around the tins, just taking the time to get the pieces straight.


For the biscuit tin I have used the epoxy stickers and I have also used the ribbon on the treats tin.

Jars
These are so simple it's almost embarrassing to show them! I have just used the ribbon again and one of the stickers for a tag.  I loved the idea of doing hot chocolate and marshmallows, until my husband reminded me that Christmas here is in Summer - which I had totally forgotten!

This jar has some mulled wine mix tied with muslin, with some Kaisercraft Organza ribbon and a cinnamon stick for extra decoration.


I will be loading more detailed pictures onto my gallery later on this evening - and please post a comment if you have any questions :-)

I hope this has give you a couple of ideas for simple homemade gifts. Stay tuned each day for ideas from other members of the Design Team

Hi Everyone - Lowri here.
In my box of Christmas Goodies were the latest papers from the Imaginisce “Cottage Christmas” collection.

There are some lovely colours and a real variety of prints suitable for everything from cards for kids, bold brights – some of them even have a retro feel to them.
I have three cards to show you today – they may take a little time to figure out, but once you master the technique, it would be easy to repeat quickly. These first two cards look impressive but actually use very little product – making them very economical too.
If you are in Timaru – pop into the shop to take a look as I have sent these cards to Liz! I have also uploaded instructions and more pictures in my gallery.

Tri-Fold Shutter Card

I had seen a few of these in magazines and on-line and I have been waiting for ages for a suitable time to try one out! It looks complicated but it’s really not. Just follow the diagram carefully and remember to use EITHER the inches or cm measurements. Either set of measurements will result in a card to fit a standard envelope.
When I try something new like this – I always give it a go with scrap card first (even a cereal box for thicker cards) to get a feel for how it works, double check measurements etc. It’s much easier to make adjustments at this stage, where if you make a mistake you haven’t spoiled any of your good quality paper.


Once you have made your card base following the diagram – then the fun starts and you can get decorating. I used plain cardstock in co-ordinating colours to make a mat for each panel and then cut patterned paper to decorate. I used a 1/8 inch margin (3mm) each time to get a layered effect.