Bloomin' Love and Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Gift

Today I was helping Terri out at her wonderful Stamping Extravaganza. There were SO many tables with new products being demonstrated at them.  I was demonstrating the Pyramid Pals.  I had made quite a few of these adorable critters and I got to tell how do make them and a few tips while assembling them. I'll be sharing more of those critters at a later date.  Anyway, I needed to catch a ride to the event and a dear friend and wonderful demonstrator Lisa offered.  The "Botanical Blossom" card I made here was for her.

I also made this fun bag for her and added some candy jelly hearts inside.  I put them in a small zip bag (not just loose in the paper bag)!!!  

For this bag I used the "Mini Treat Bag" Thinlits.  I LOVE using that little bag.  It's SO easy and it only takes 1-1/2 sheets of the 6" x 6" decorative paper from those fun stack pads.  Since it doesn't take 2 full sheets, I had some left to make the belly band for this bag.  It didn't need the band to hold the bag together, I just added it for some color and contrast.  

The heart is from the new "Bloomin' Heart" Thinlit die.  And the words are from the "Happy Home" set.  It seems like it's getting harder and harder to find words to fit in the 1-1/4" circle.  But I managed.  If I wouldn't have been able to find something, there's always just typing them up on the computer and printing them out! I've done that LOTS of times!  Anyway, I cut the flower using Rose Red card stock.  Then I cut out several flowers (included in the Thinlits pack). and stuck them together using Glue Dots.  Then I put them in the palm of my hand and took the end of a Sharpie marker and pushed in the center so they curved up nicely.  I set them in place using Dimensionals.  For the little leaves I just cut out a Pear Pizzazz flower and cut it apart.

To assemble this project, I first put the bag together.  Then I added the belly band.  You can hide the seam of the band behind the heart if you plan it out ahead of time.  Then I glued the heart in place, bending some of it around to the back of the bag.  I added the flowers and then the word piece using Dimensionals and that was it!  Super fun!!! And I thought it was very pretty!!  Lisa liked it and I appreciated the ride!

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda

Flower Pot Gift Box. Weekend Project!

Here's another weekend project for you. I don't want you to find yourself bored on the weekends!!! I can't remember the last time I was bored. Being bored means you have nothing to do. Nothing to do? That would mean that everything in your home is neat and tidy and in it's place! All of your projects are done and you literally have nothing to do. I'd like that for a day!!! Or even an hour!! But since I have tons to do I don't see myself being bored for at least the next 5 years!!! LOL

Let's move on to the project here. As you can see in the photo the box contains a planter and inside that planter is a dirt pellet and a package of seeds. I got these planters in the dollar bin at Michael's. Last year I had gotten some at Target in their Dollar Spot. I don't know if they carried them this year. I don't shop at Target much but when I do I always make sure I hit the Dollar Spot!!! There might be something in it that I just can't live without!!!

I made the box using the Super Deluxe Tuck Box Template Maker. You can find the link on the side bar of my blog. Just scroll way down, it's just above the "My Mood Is" icon. I entered in the measurements I wanted (which were 2" x 1.75" x 2") and it created a box for me in PDF format. I saved it to my computer and I printed the boxes out later on Lavender Lace card stock.

After I cut them out I used the Stampin' Up! "Doodle" wheel and Lavender Lace ink. I glued the tab on the side of the box and then I glued the bottom of the box. Fold in the side flaps and glue or tape them shut. Then fold the back flap forward and glue or tape it in place. Finally fold the front flap towards the back and glue or tape it in place. You want the last flap to have it's fold in the front of your box. You don't want the raw edge of the flap there because it doesn't give the box a smooth and finished look.

After I got the box all put together I stamped the flower image from the Stampin' Up! "Wagon Full of Fun" set. This set is a brand new one that is now available in the new Occasions Mini Catalog. For me it was a "Must Have" set because it's got so many fun images in it! I'm sure I will get a lot of use out of it. I have used it quite a bit already and still have more plans for it!

I used the cute flower from the set and colored it in with markers. The pot I colored in with Creamy Caramel and then I used a blender pen and Really Rust to give it a bit of shading to create a little dimension. I cut the flower out close to the image lines and taped it on the front of the box.

I put the flower pot, dirt disk and seed packet inside the box along with the directions. I took the directions off the box and typed them up. I didn't want them on the outside of the box because I would have to affix a white piece of label paper to the box and it would stick out like a sore thumb. Plus the instructions were too long to put on the outside unless I used a very tiny font that would be extremely difficult to read. It was easier to add it to the inside.

I then tied a ribbon around the box and it is ready for gift giving!!! This would make a wonderful Mother's Say gift, a fun Make & Take, Hostess Gifts, Customer Appreciation gifts, Craft Fair items, Teacher Gifts, Thank you gifts or just a fun Class Project. Anyone who loves to plant flowers would love to receive something like this!!!

So have some fun making these and don't be bored. If you can't find these pots you can purchase the terra cotta pots and make up your own. Add a bit of potting soil to a small zip baggie and add some flower seeds to another baggie and you're set!!

Thank you for visiting and have a creative day,
Wanda

Don't Let These Gems Pass You By!

WOW, I almost let this gem pass me by. I didn't pay attention to the technique last week and almost missed out on the 2-5-7-10 box!!! It's such an easy box to make. It takes a full sheet of card stock and you just score at 2-5-7-10 inches and then turn and score at it at the long sides at 2 & 7 inches. You cut away some part and put it together. I couldn't believe how quick and fun this box is.

For mine I used the Snowflakes jumbo wheel by Stampin' Up!. My card stock color was Soft Sky and so was the ink I wheeled on. Then I wheeled on some white craft ink and set it aside to dry. I made the design for the front while the white was drying. Does it look familiar?? I just LOVE this snowman. Actually there aren't too many snowmen I don't LOVE!!! I also made the tag while the white was drying. I'm sure the white was dry but I figured I'd just make the tag anyway so that I would be sure it's all dry and I could assemble it when I was ready for it.

The tag stamp is from the new Holiday Mini catalog, it's called "Tags for All". And the BEST part of these stamps was they were already cut out. All the stamps in the new mini are die cut and ready for you to remove them from the rubber and set them on the wood. I hope they do all of their stamps like that from now on!!! It sure made putting the sets together easier. Imagine this, getting all the sets put together in a reasonable amount of time!!! That would be a first for me!!! LOL

OK, back to the box. Once I got the box assembled I trimmed the top flap a bit so I could do a double scallop. I taped that in place and punched holes for the ribbon. I used my Crop-a-Dial and added my eyelets. That was the first time I've ever put eyelets on something without hammering them!!! I love how the punch side went through the two layers with ease. Not to mention how easy it was to set the eyelet in place. What a fabulous piece of equipment that is!!! One of my favorites!

Now my box is ready to fill and tie shut! I'm going to be making a lot of these!! This was one simple and adorable box!!! These would be fabulous for Craft Fairs or Make N Takes too!!

The tutorial for this box is available at SplitCoastStampers. Here you'll find the minor details to making this simple box.

Don't forget to leave your comment for the 100,000 Hits Blog Candy!

Thank you for stopping by!
Wanda

Notebook & Beaded Pen from the New Stuff

After I made and posted the 3" x 6" card last night I was still in awe over the beautiful colors of the "Outlaw" decorative papers from Stampin' Up! I have a few odd size notebooks sitting around here waiting for something to be done with them and this was just that "something" they were waiting for!!!

I used Close to Cocoa for the main part of the notebook (front and back). I added a layer of Blue Bayou. I'm REALLY loving that color! And the Outlaw paper just popped when it was set on top of that blue! I took a scrap of Blue Bayou and punched it out with a Giga scalloped punch. Then I did the same with darker piece of decorative paper from the same pack.

For the letter I used the "Headline Alphabet" set by Stampin' Up! I used a scrap piece of Groovy Guava and sponged a little Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa on it to "dirty" it up a bit. I didn't want it as bright, bold or clean looking as it was. I used my VersaMark pad and stamped the letter then I embossed it in clear embossing powder. I cut the letter out and tied an organza bow to it. I couldn't get any other ribbon to tie that nicely. It's too bad Stampin' Up! retired those.

I added a couple of Primas that I also "dirtied" up with sponging. I added a tiny blue rhinestone to the center of it. I set the Blue Bayou piece down first and then added the darker one on top, moving it over just a little to expose less than 1/4" of it. I added the letter with Dimensionals and glued the flower in place. I tied a ribbon on the decorative paper.

The little silver oval was something I found at Joann's. It has 4 prongs on the back of it. I found it a bit difficult to work with. I printed the words on my computer and used a small enough font so the words fit within it. I printed one out on white copier paper and then I taped a piece of the decorative paper to the copier paper over the space where the words were. I ran it through the printer again and now I have the words on my decorative paper. I used the foam part of my Mat Pack and pressed the words and oval together. It was easy enough to line up. I wanted to add Crystal Effects to the oval but I wasn't sure if the printer ink would run or not so I just left it. I'll save that experiment for another time. Though I thought it would give it an Epoxy look. I put the whole thing on top of my mat (minus the notebook) and pressed the prongs in place. Then I turned it over and bent the prongs so the oval would be secure. I attached that final layer to the notebook and it was done!!

For the pen I put a piece of a double sided sticky sheet to it. I precut the sheet and I also precut the decorative paper. I removed the protective layer from the sticky sheet and added the decorative paper. Then I added another piece of sticky sheet and removed the protective layer and rolled the pen in the micro beads. I like these pens but I've found the beads don't always like to stay on so I used the Crystal Effects and put a light layer over the beads . I pushed the tip of the pen in a piece of Styrofoam and let it dry. Now if you're going to try this on your pen, have your Styrofoam ready before hand. And use a soft bristle brush. Only go over the area once or the brush (no matter how soft it is) will pick the beads right up off the pen. You don't want that. Just give it a quick brush across the beaded area, turn and repeat until it's covered and then let it dry. I don't know the drying time for this. I let mine set overnight only because it was my last project for the night and I was off to bed. Most things with Crystal Effects take about 20 minutes to dry so I'd say for this check it after about a half hour. Lightly touch it.

I now have a fun gift ready to send to someone who took some time out of her busy to day to help me out. It was truly appreciated. For a closer view just click on the photo. I belive this feature works with all the photos I post!

Thank you for stopping by,
Wanda

Make N Take From My Open House & Instructions

This is one of the Make N Takes I had for my Customer Appreciation Open House last Sunday. The new See You Around wheel was used for the background on the Tempting Turquoise card stock. The Office Accoutrement set was used on the front, adding black for the layers.

On the inside I used a piece of white card stock for the base to tape on the pad and pencil. I cut a 3/4" piece of card stock to hold the pencil. I cut the piece about 4" long and wrapped the pencil in the center and then taped it shut close to the pencil. Then I taped the strip between the white card stock and the note pad. I added a piece of Velcro to the top to keep it shut. But before I did that I punched an oval in the upper part to serve as a handle. Punch them one at a time. Punching both is possible but why push your luck on your punch, it's not worth it.

Measurements:

4 1/4" x 11". You will get two from one piece of card stock.
1 7/8" x 2 1/8" white piece to stamp on

2 1/8" x 2 3/8" colored piece for layer
2 3/8" x 2 5/8" black layer

Scoring: score at 5 1/4" and again at 5 3/4"

The circle was stamped in black on white card stock and then punched out and the layer behind it is a scrap piece of black.

The white piece behind the post it notes
measures 3 1/4" x 3 1/4"

I thought I should add this little note. For those of you without the means to cut a pencil like I did, here's a couple of things you can do. You can purchase the "golf" pencils. They are the ones used at the golf course. Or you can score the pencil a bit longer than you need and snap it. To score it you would take you x-acto knife and push it into the wood and roll it until it comes full circle. Then you continue doing that until you have a nice groove in it. Then you snap the pencil at the score line. Now you will sharpen that end because it's not very attractive , it's uneven and will have rough bits of wood sticking out.

Have fun making these. They are a quick project!

Thanks for stopping by,
Wanda

Ghiradelli Purse Candy Holder Pattern

Sorry for the delay in getting this pattern out. I'm in the process of trying to do my work and learn the Window's Vista at the same time. It's a VERY frustrating operating system. Too many changes were made to it and it's difficult to find what you use to find in a flash. I'm sure in time I'll get it all figured out and thing will go faster. I'm forever connecting to the net to download software to make my other software compatible with VISTA. Like I said VERY frustrating. I'm NOT happy with it at all. I can not even begin to tell you all the time I've had to spend on here just looking for things I use to find in a flash on the old Windows.

Ok, so onto the much awaited pattern for the Ghiradelli Purse Candy Holder. If you click on the picture you'll be able to read the instructions.

The size of the half circle doesn't really matter, use whatever you have. I used a 1 1/4" circle punch here. If yours is larger just don't go as deep. You're just creating a little indentation to grab the candy easier. (added 6.22.07)

I would LOVE to see how you decorate yours. Feel free to email me photos. I'll be happy to post them on here for you to share with the world!

Have fun with this!

It's NOT Garbage!!!

I had gotten some brads that came in an interesting firm plastic package. It was easy to open and didn't ruin the packaging when it was opened. The first thing I thought of when I looked at it was, "those Hershey Nuggets look like they fit in here." I'm thinking two would fit but only one does. So I took the nuggets I had left from making the nugget boxes and used the "Petals" jumbo wheel with Pretty in Pink ink on address labels. Then I typed the wording into my word processor (Open Office, it's like Word Perfect Corel and Microsoft Office but it's FREE!!! And it works with the new Window's Vista. My son set it up for me and told me to use it instead of purchasing a current Word Perfect, which is around $250. OUCH! Hmmm $250 or free??? What to do??? LOL I will find out where you can get this software and post it on here.)

Ok, back to my project!! I took the inside factory label out. It was just a piece of thin chipboard that fit snug in that space, no tape or glue! Then I printed out my wording on the computer using the "Little Lamb" font by Stampin' Up! It's such a sweet font! I typed out my information and printed that on one side of the card stock and on the other I printed out the "thank you." To get the words to line up with the ones on the back I made sure I paid special attention to the margins of the one so I knew where to start the words for the other side. I printed it out and it was not exact so I did have to go back and move a few letters/words over and after 3 tries I got it lined up to where I could work with it. I measured the original insert and cut my card stock accordingly. I trimmed the corners just a hair. Then I wheeled on the color and put it inside the container. I had put the address label on the nugget and set it inside the container. I closed up the container and tied a bow in the center spot where a hole is made for hanging it in a shop. I think these will be a fun addition to my customer appreciation event coming up in July. I just thought they were literally "sweet!"

And finally a picture of both the front and the backs of the container. The nugget on the top covering my information is there not only to cover the information but to show you a more clear picture of it!

You'll NEVER look at your garbage the same again!!! LOL

Click on the photos to see them up close.

Thanks for stopping by!
Wanda

Pattern and Instructions for Ghiradelli Candy Holder

Yesterday my post included written instructions and a photo of a basket of Ghiradelli Candy Holders. I told you I would post a picture of a single holder and I've included a picture of the holder in the instruction sheet.

The next picture is of the instruction sheet. If you click on it you can view it a lot closer. The instructions are the same as the ones I posted yesterday. Just click on the link in the above paragraph and you'll be taken to that post. I wanted you to see what the candy holder looks like after you are done scoring and cutting. Just to clarify where you need to cut. You can always email me with any questions.

I would LOVE to see how you decorate these. PLEASE feel free to email me with your designs. I'd be more than happy to post them here too, giving you full credit of course!!! Let's see the talent that I know is out there!

Have fun with these!!

Thank you for stopping by!
Wanda

Snowman Tissue Holder

Materials needed:
Stamp set Tags & More
Black Ink Pad
White Craft Ink cartridge
Snowflake Wheel
Wheel Handle
11" x 4" Whisper White Card stock
3 3/8" x 2" Chocolate Chip Card stock
1 3/4" x 3 1/8" Bashful Blue Card stock
Tissue that opens at the top
1 1/4" Circle Punch
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter
Markers:
Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie,
Ballet Blue, Pretty in Pink
Dimensionals (2)
Snail Adhesive
Liquid Glue
Paper Snips

Directions:
Follow the instructions for cutting and scoring the tissue holder. Once your are done cutting out your pieces fold all score lines. Fold the line over closest to the top of the tissue box. This is where you will be punching your circle*. After the circle is punched you can assemble your box. Simply glue the long side pieces in place, glue works best for this. Insert the tissue and fold in the flaps. You are now ready to decorate your cover.
Using the Snowflake Wheel stamp the Bashful Blue Card stock and set aside to dry**. Stamp snowman on the white piece of cardstock enclosed in your kit about 1/3 up from the bottom. Color the snowman in and then cut him out. Place him on top of the dry Bashful Blue piece. Rip a piece of White Card stock and attach it to the bottom of the snowman with dimensionals. You will want to rip it to fit your snowman. This give the appearance of a snow layer. Now take the Liquid Glue and sporadically dot snowflakes to sprinkle glitter on. Your project is now complete.

The pattern is by Julie Ebersole and can be found here. These holders also make cute little gift boxes if you don't punch the hole in them!!!!!

* Be sure to punch the hole BEFORE you glue the box together.
** Craft ink dries slower than regular inks so let it dry before handling it.