Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - A Little Something from Me to You

***I have another post today from My Time Made Easy...click here***

Today is Friday, so that means another Christmas Stampin' All Year Long challenge. We are sponsored by Pink Cat Studios once again, and the challenge is to make a gift card holder. I went to the SCS resource section to look for a tutorial for one and found this Beanie Cap gift card holder tutorial. I remembered seeing these a few years ago and thought they were just so adorable, so I used it for this week's challenge. I followed the tutorial almost exactly, except I left off the pom-pom. I printed out a small version of the Polar Bear Present digital image and colored it with copic markers. This next picture reveals the gift card inside. And this gift card was actually a gift given to me this past Christmas from my best friend, Maria. It's a great spa...so serene and pretty too!

So what kind of gift card holder can you come up with? I can't wait to see so I can gather more ideas to package these very popular gifts! Stop by the CSAYL blog to see more inpiration from the DT as well as our guest designer this week, Lori.

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your weekend!

Secret Admirer

A while ago, Paper Makeup Stamps added a few more designers, so we decided to do a Secret Admirer exchange to get to know everyone better and welcome them to our family. We made a couple of cards and an altered item along with some other personalized gifts to send to our secret DT member. Look what I received from my secret DT, Bonnie Sharp. Of all the fab things in the box, I was immediately drawn to the ribbons. They are from Sharon Johnson's store and I was going to order some when this came in the mail! They are amazing! And all the paper and cards are beautiful. And that flower bag? So cute and it contained 3 packages of different Reese candy! Notice the past tense of contain? I ate one bag almost immediately, and the other two were taken to my classroom where I proceeded to eat another bag and I'm well on my way to eating the third! Hahaha!!! Thank you so much Bonnie! I love the gift!

I had Stephanie Zito as my secret DT member. She was so easy to create for because she just got a new puppy named Butterball. She also loves to cook, so I had another theme to work with. For Butterball, I created a doghouse using My Time Made Easy's Welcome Home template.

I reduced the template to 75% and cut off the chimney to create this cute dog house. I printed the Custom Construction Materials Color Me Pretty paper onto close to cocoa paper. The door to the house was created with the Home Improvement Coordinating Cuts cut file and was cut down to make it smaller.

The roof panels were created using Basic Grey's Max and Whiskers dp. Love the colors and the puppy prints.

These were the treats that were for Butterball. The bad of treats fit in the dog house, but the bone was a bit too big. Isn't that little puppy just so adorable? I snagged this picture from Stephanie's blog and added the bone brad, personalized with Butterball's name.

Now for Stephanie, I created this card using MTME's Gardener's Apron.
I used Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry dp for this pretty little apron. I added the pearls to make it much more feminine. Here's the inside.

And she said she loves kitchen gadgets, so I purchased a few and strung them together. I also got her a pack of the Nook and Pantry dp. I wanted to get the Max and Whiskers dp, but my LSS was out of it! Darn the luck!And guess what candy she said she likes too? You guessed it! Resse peanut butter cups! So she got some of those too! I had so much fun creating this gift for Stephanie! And I loved my gift from Bonnie! My two new Canadian friends! Thanks girls!

Pretty Petal Pocket

Well, it seems this is My Timeless Template weekend for me! My post from yesterday included two template projects and I have another today!

I went to a 40th birthday party on Friday for my friend, Melissa, and her gift was a gift card. I wanted to place it something pretty that she would appreciate (she's a crafter too!). The new Pretty Petal Pocket was too pretty to pass up, so I opted for that one. Here's my gift combo for Melissa.This gift and card came out so pretty, IMHO! I started with this great dp that was given to me by my friend, Cheryl Rowley. I paired it with SU's retired groovy guava. I still had some ribbon to match, so I was good to go.
I just think this combination of colors on this pretty template is so fabulous! I print these templates on regular computer paper (even though you can print them right onto your cardstock) for two reasons: first, my printer won't print on the cardstock all the way through...it gets stuck half way! Second, I don't like that the score lines and other print is on the template and you can see it on the inside. So I print on regular computer paper, cut it out, tape it with removable adhesive to my cardstock and cut away! Much better for me. Back to the project. Since this had seashells on it, I decorated it with pearls (like from an oyster, only mine aren't!). I added some paper shredding and the gift card inside and tied it up with the groovy guava ribbon. So simple! Really took about 25 minutes to pull together. (I also forgot to mention that this is for the Dare to Get Dirty challenge issued by Tracy Harp called It's in the Bag! You had to make some kind of creative packaging. I think these templates are pretty creative!)

Of course I had to have a card to go with it (believe me when I say this was an afterthought!), so I used the same papers to come up with this.I didn't have time to color an image and get fancy, so I used one of Paper Makeup Stamps new word art digital images for my focal image. Great quote for a friend, don't you think? I printed out this digi image (it costs all of a $1.50!) and highlighted some words with a copic marker. I embossed the bottom part of the white mat with a cuttlebug folder. (I just saw Gina K do this on one of her Stamp TV episodes. While I've done this before, this episode just popped into my head and gave me the idea to do it again!) I placed another piece of the dp on top and finished it off with ribbon. The sentiment was placed on dimensionals. So quick and easy!

Melissa loved her gift and so did I! It was difficult to let this one leave my crafty little hands! LOL!

Oh, one more thing! I just have to mention that today is the birthday of one of my favorite people....Mick Jagger! He's 66 years old today! Yikes! I've been a fan since I was 5! Can't help it and I'm not going to explain it! I love Mick! LOL!!

Thanks for stopping in today. Enjoy your Sunday!
Recipe
Stamps: True Friends digi image (PMS)
Paper: Neenah white, groovy guava, Island Lagoon Seashells (Carolyn Holt Designs for Paper Adventure)
Accessories: Pretty Petal Pocket (My Timeless Templates/PTI), pearls, groovy guava stitched ribbon, cuttlebug folder, dimensionals

For the Bride-to-Be

Hi everyone! I went to a staggette for my dh's cousin yesterday. I brought an appetizer, but I was thinking I should bring some sort of gift. I didn't know the protocol for this type of party, but I thought I should bring something...but what exactly? I thought about it and came up with something I thought was a little clever. First, I made the card. I've had this wedding set from H & M stamps called Fairy Tale Weddings. When I saw the set, it was a must-have immediately! Here's the card I made.
Isn't that image precious? I remember on my wedding day looking at myself in my mirror...I had waited a long time for that day and I just loved my dress and I felt like a princess in it! The sentiment stamp is something I've had for a long time from Rubber Stampede. When I saw the sentiment I knew immediately what my gift was going to be...I'll talk about that later. Back to the card. Here's a closeup of the bride.

My LSS, Buffalo Stamps & Stuff, just started to issue challenges this week, and their first one was a tri-fold card. Here is the link to that challenge. I loved Sue's card and decided I needed to try this. Here is my card opened.

I used Very Vanilla for my base and Fall Flowers (SU retired) dp. The blue cardstock is Soft Sky (retired). I chose the blue because of the sentiment, of course! The birds and inside sentiments are from the same H&M wedding set. Here's a closeup of the front sentiment.



And here's a final look at the front of the card. The butterfly is a cuttlebug die. I've added sparkle to the card with a Sakura Star Dust glitter pen. Can you tell I REALLY LOVE this card? LOL!

Now on to the gift. As I said, I didn't know what, if anything, I should bring. I settled on something that literally cost me "pennies". I used one of the My Timeless Templates designed by Lauren Meader for Papertrey Ink for my gift bag called Ready, Set, Wrap. It's the cutest little thing and perfect for my gift. Here's the bag.Please keep in mind that this was the first time I used this template, so I wasn't familiar with it. If I had to do it over, I would have stamped all that white space with a vine of some sort in the Soft Sky ink. As it was, I was making this at 5:00 and had to be at the party at 7:00 and I hadn't showered or done my hair/makeup yet. Still, I think it's pretty darn cute!

Now here was my gift idea. Every bride needs some luck, right? Tradition (at least in my family) has the bride place a penny in her shoe for good luck. I remember my brother giving me a special brand new penny on my wedding day for good luck! It was so sweet of him to think of that it made me cry (I'm tearing up right now, too!). So I thought if I could find a penny from the year she was born (that took some investigating), which I found was 1981, this could be her something old. I managed to find the penny, after much searching through my change jar, and cleaned it with a toothbrush and jewelry cleaner to shine it up a bit (remember I'm on a 2-hour time limit here, too!)! Here's what I did with the penny.


I created the "Lucky Penny" wordart on my computer onto very vanilla cardstock and mounted it on the dp and another scalloped piece of vanilla. I placed some white packing straw on the inside to cusion the penny. This was a big hit at the party. The bride-to-be loved it! This was something that took about an hour to create and pull together. These templates are a blast to use! Have you seen the two new ones Lauren created? I don't know how she manages to top herself each month!

Well, I've gone on long enough. Thanks for stopping in and I hope you enjoyed this LOOOOONG post! I just had to post all these pictures cause this was such a cute project (IMHO!!).

My Time Template Challenge

This is the first My Time Template Challenge in Lauren's new lineup of challenges. She challenged us to use one of her templates, make it a birthday gift, and include the color purple and a butterfly. Well, I think I managed to get all of these requirements into my project today! Here's what I came up with using the My Time Purse-onality Clutch template.

I know I've said this before, but when Papertrey Ink and Lauren first launched these templates, I thought I'd never find a use for them! Well, I'm eating my words, because these are so FUN to make! I'm enjoying one better than the other each time I use them! Here's another look at it.
I think what I like about them is how cute and compact they are! I started by finding this dp in my stash. I found it in a stack pack of papers from Scrapbook Wizard. I must have picked it up on sale at AC Moore a while ago, because I don't even remember this stack! It matched beautifully with SU's Lavender Lace. I decided to stamp this little butterfly (from Verve Visual called Petals and Stems) repeatedly around the base of the purse in Versamark, then embossed it with clear ep. I then used a larger version of the same stamp (also by Verve Visual called Fluttering By) for the closure. I stamped it in Lavender Lace, carefully cut it out, and added purple rhinestones to the body and smaller ones to the antennae. I then attached a Basic Grey magnet (boy those things sure are strong and stick to EVERYTHING!) behind the butterfly and one on the purse so it would stay closed. For the handle, I used another piece of Lavender Lace and I added a piece of PTI's Plum Pudding stitched ribbon. I attached the handle to the top of the purse with silver brads. So simple, but so cute!

Now for the birthday part of the challenge. I was shopping at Coldwater Creek the other day, and saw these key chains in all different shapes...sunglasses, a drink glass, a shoe. I kept digging because I thought there had to be a butterfly in there, and there was! Perfect gift for my niece. This butterfly can also hang from a backpack, which the kids all love! So here's the full gift.I just added some purple shredded filler to the inside and I was done! What a cute way to present a gift! If you feel like trying one of these out, why don't you join our challenge? Just link your project to Mr. Linky on Lauren's blog and use the code MTTC02 if you post to SCS or another forum. We'd love to see what you can do with these templates! You may want to check out what the other girls on the My Time Design Team have done for some inspiration, too! Here is a collage peek of what they've done! Thanks for stopping by!
Alicia
Dana
Dawn
Jennifer
Kendra
Kristin
MacKenzie
Maria
Odette
Pam

Tamara
Tracey
and
Lauren

Recipe
Stamps: Petals and Stems and Fluttering By (Verve Visual)
Paper: Neenah white, lavender lace, Scrapbook Wizard dp
Ink: Lavender lace, Versamark
Accessories: Clear dp, PTI plum pudding stitched ribbon, red-line tape, crysals, brads, Basic Grey magnet

Some Gifts to Share

I've had a four-day weekend because of two snow days, and thank goodness! I wanted to make some gifts this year for the secretaries at school, my aide, and teacher friends and those days gave me the time to do all these gifts. I did not get to photograph the teacher friend gifts...I was too rushed and forgot! I made fudge (if you want to call it that!) and poured it into various tins I had. The tins were decorated so nicely, but the fudge did not set and was "sloshy" for a lack of a better term. My friend, Pam, said I should have called it Chocolate Lava! LOL! Anyway, these are the gifts I did photograph.
Anne Marie Peterson left a comment on one of my posts, and I checked out her blog and saw these cute hot cocoa gifts that she made. I had been saving these boxes that come with PTI stamps because I knew they'd come in handy some day! Well, I took Anne Marie's idea and ran with it! I started by measuring the box. It's 6" square and 1" wide. I cut a piece of Kiwi Kiss cardstock 4" x 6" and scored it at 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" and ran an SU wheel (I don't remember the name of this one...I think it's retired) over the three sections the score lines created in Kiwi Kiss ink. Next, I cut and embossed a piece of Frosty Day dp using the Labels One nestabilities. I chose this paper because of the wording on it and it also dictated my color scheme. It seemed fitting for a hot cocoa gift. This piece was scored as well and taped onto the top piece. I then placed two jumbo brads on top so I could run the Kiwi satin ribbon through it to create the handle. For the bottom inside piece, I had to cut and tape together two pieces of Kiwi cardstock measuring 8" x 1 1/2". I scored both at 1" from each end, creating a tab. These were taped together creating a rectangle that I placed inside the box. It was also stamped with the wheel. I then used PTI's Holiday Tag Collection set for the tag. It was stamped in chocolate chip on vintage cream and backed with a scalloped piece of kiwi kiss. Here's a picture of the top.

Now for the card. I didn't do a full card (I was lazy, I admit it!). Instead, I did a postcard-like card. Again, I used Kiwi and Frosty Day dp. the main image is PTI's Warm Happiness set. It was so perfect for this gift! I stamped the outline of the cup in chocolate chip and the inside polka dot in Kiwi. The shading on the bottom was done in Close to Cocoa (I masked the main image) as was the steam from the cup. Such a cool set. You can change the look of the cup with different stamps. The sentiment is so nice, too. The word "cocoa" is one of three words that fit in that spot. There's also tea and coffee. I used this sentiment with "coffee" in a pop-up gift card you'll see next.

The last gift I gave my Secret Angel was a Tim Horton's gift card. (For those of you who don't know what Tim Horton's is, it's a huge coffee and donut shop located in Canada and the Northeast. Tim Horton was a hockey player for the Buffalo Sabres in the 1970's. He was a very good defenseman. He was in a deadly car crash in Ontario, Canada, and this coffee shop/restaurant is his legacy. I don't drink coffee, but the lines of cars that wait for coffee at ALL hours of the day at the drive-thru prove that people love it!) Katie had said she loves Tim Horton's, so I got her a gift card. I decided to try one of these pop-up gift card holders I had seen on an SCS challenge here. You simply take a 4" x 12" piece of cardstock and score it at 4" and 8", per the instructions. I also scored it at 6". So you fold on the 4" and 8" score lines in the same direction, and the 6" in score line in the opposite direction. This is what it looks like when folded. I ran some tape along the inside edges to close it up and took my word window punch and punched the opening. I had to punch it 2 times to get a big enough opening. I used the same stamp set, but you can see I changed the look of the cup with a different inside stamp. The sentiment is from PTI's Holiday Treats. I backed the card with a 4.25" square of chocolate chip to make it a larger card.

Here is another pop-up gift card I made for my aide. I got her a Bath & Body Works gift card that had trees on it, so I decided to use this tree stamp from Holiday Tag Collection. I used kiwi kiss and riding hood red cardstock along with Holiday Treasures dp. I placed red dew drops on the brown part of the dp. I also backed it with a 4.25" square piece of riding hood red. The sentiments on the inside are from SU and PTI's Holiday Treats set.
These were a big hit with the recipients. I hope you enjoyed them and that I gave enough information for you to recreate them. If not, please email me or leave a comment and I'll get back to you. I still have to make thank you cards for all the gifts I received from students and friends. That will be in a few days because I'm tired and I still have to wrap my gifts and make a cheesecake! I'd like to wish all of you a wonderful holiday with your family and friends and I'd like to invite you to please stop by again. I love to read your comments and I wish more of you would comment. You can't imagine (or maybe you can) how nice it is to read them! I truly look forward to reading them. Thanks to all my frequent commenters (is that a word?) for making my day and thanks to all of you who subscribe! Merry Christmas!

A Bridal Shower Gift

I'm going to a bridal shower tomorrow for a friend from work, Maria. She is the Social Worker at our school and a really nice girl. I wanted to get something special for her and not something from her gift registry. I like to buy picnic baskets for new couples because that is one thing they don't think to get for themselves. I purchased this one at Bed, Bath and Beyond today. It was the last one on the shelf and was perfect! It came with a setting of four plastic plates, cups, and utensils. I added a vinyl tablecloth in a basket weave pattern, paper napkins, a citronella candle that matches the basket, two plastic wine glasses, and a bottle of wine! Something this big is difficult to wrap, so I put the card inside and wanted to put a tag on the outside. This is what I came up with for the tag:

This is a stamp from a retired SU set called Simply Summer. I've always liked this set and thought it was the perfect one to use for this gift. I used my copic markers to color the image and added Crystal stickles to the ice cubes. The "for you" is from All Holidays. It was mounted on Brocade Blue cardstock and I used the two largest scallop rectangles from the large scallop Nestabilities set. I used some black hemp to tie it to the handle. This is the card I put inside:

I did this for an inspiration challenge on SCS a while ago. The paper on the bottom was inspired by baskets in the inspiration piece, so I thought it went with the basket theme. You can see the details of this card on my SCS gallery. I hope she likes the gift and puts it to good use! Thanks for stopping by!