Friday, December 31, 2010

Sweet Stitches Gift Set

Welcome to Stampin' Addicts Occasions Mini Blog Hop.  You may have arrived here from Tanya's blog where she featured some of the Sew Suite Accessories.  I also have a sewing themed project to share.  It is gift set that would be perfect for a new sewing enthusiast and uses the Sweet Stitches Rub-ons.

Rub-ons are fun because they can be used on so many different surfaces.  Whether it is on dark cardstock, transparencies, glass, plastic, cork, wood or regular cardstock rub-ons look beautiful.
This gift set consists of a pin cushion, pillow box filled with sewing accessories, tape measure, ribbon dispenser, fabric and coordinating card.
The pin cushion is made from a styrofoam ball covered with fabric nestled inside a base made with the Perfect Setting Big Shot die which is then mounted on a wheel of pins.
The ribbon dispenser is made with the new Petal Cone Big Shot die.  I cut the tip off to allow the ribbons to be pulled through.  There is a surprising amount of room inside for several coils of ribbon.  Before assembling the cone I punched an oval in the front and applied the sew machine rub-on to a medium window sheet attached behind the oval.
The card has a technique that is new to me.  I applied the little girl outline rub-on to watercolor paper then painted it with diluted re-inkers.  The rub-on made a nice border to color inside.  The buttons on the corners are rub-ons applied to Very Vanilla cardstock then punched with the 1/2" circle punch.  A tiny button brad on the ribbon from the Vintage Trinkets collection continues the button theme.

Thanks for stopping by today.  If you would like all the specifics of how to make these projects stop back next week and I will have all the details and instructions.  Next on the blog hop path is Heidi featuring the great guy set "Plane and Simple".  Have a great time!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Money Holders and a Lovely Gift

These are my last Christmas projects for the year- three very simple money holders.
I had to restrain myself and not make these too fussy as they are "guy gifts".  I would have loved to add ribbons and such but instead kept them fairly plain.
Double sided paper works well for these and I enjoy cutting the papers to have the images accent the project like the inside of this one.
To make these I cut 7" X 8-1/2" pieces of designer paper and scored each at 1-1/2" and 5" on the longer side.  I then rounded the top corners and adhered the edges of the pockets with sticky strip.  One inch belly bands hold them together.

One of the unexpected pleasures of blogging and being part of groups such as UStamp have been the friends I have made from around the world.  I received a lovely card and Christmas ornament from a sweet friend (and awesome stamper!)  Debbie Dawson from New Zealand.
The card is so pretty!  I love the way it opens for display.
She sent this ornament and explained that it is the Pohotukawa tree which is considered the New Zealand Christmas tree.
I looked it up and here is a link to a picture of the tree.  In the summer it has pretty red flowers- summer is in December in New Zealand.

Thank you Debbie!  What a fun gift!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Stocking Gift Card Holder and Upcoming Blog Hop

Tis the season for gift card holders!  I made this small stocking to hang on the tree.  It uses Deck the Halls DSP and Cherry Cobbler seam binding.  The template is one I found on SCS here.
I added a loop for hanging and a Very Vanilla rectangle on the inside with a stamped greeting.
Also the Stamping Addicts blog hop will be starting Dec 31st.  There will be 25 stops each featuring different new products from the Occasions Mini Catalog.   So be sure to come back to see lots of wonderful projects.  All the info can be found here.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Gift Bag Collage

My favorite gift package this year is this BIG gift bag.  It started as a plain brown bag ( a very generous 19 X 24 inches).  I cut 12 pieces of Deck the Halls DSP each 5 X 5.  Then the fun began I as started to add all sorts of embellishments and stamps to the squares. 
Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon with a pin from the Vintage Trinkets set.
Champaign Glass Glitter and pearls.  The corners accents were cut with the Scallop Square punch and trimmed to size.

Cherry Cobbler seam binding tied in a double bow.
Wide striped grosgrain with a seam binding rosette.  (Instructions for the rosette can be found HERE.)
Lace trim with a brass button brad.
Fabric medallion with ruffled seam binding flower.  (Instructions for both can be found HERE.)

Waffle paper with non Stamping Up holly berries.
One little pearl on the pretty DSP.
Pleated lace trim.  (I used a line of sticky strip to adhere the trim.)
A Merry Christmas greeting with rhinestone accent.
All together the varying textures are very pretty.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Blouse Shaped Card

The Sweet Stitches paper has an image that I thought would make a great shaped card.  I cut out the section with the blouse back shape, then cut a card base from Wild Wasabi that was slightly larger than the image.  I lined up the left side of the "pattern" piece with the left side of the card base and traced around it.  I cut the base just a smidge smaller than the traced line before mounting the dsp on the base.
Then came the fun of decorating the front.  I cut "rickrack" from two of the pink papers using the Tasteful Trim die.
One sheet of paper is covered with oodles of little sewing machines.  This one looks like my mom's wonderful original singer sewing machine that sews like a dream (straight stitch only of course!)
The "buttons" are made with the Sweet Buttons embosslit.  (So fun because now I can make buttons in any color to match my projects!)

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Petal Cone Candy Dish

My shipment of new goodies arrived yesterday!  I had been thinking about this project from the time I saw the new petal cone die in the Occasions Mini. Today I got a chance to make it.
I cut eight pieces with the petal cone die and cut them down.  After assembling the boxes I mounted them on a square of cardboard cut from the backing of the Designer Series Paper pack.  
Here is a brief tutorial of how I cut the pieces.  This is what the petal cone piece looks like.
 I located the score lines as marked above and measured up 1-1/4".   Then made the indicated cuts.
    Each box requires two pieces, so I cut eight pieces (four from each of two different patterns of paper.)
I mounted each box on a 2-1/4" X 2-14" square of cardstock to stabilize it before securing the four boxes to a 5 x 5 square of cardboard.

Not wanting to waste the portions that I cut away, I made the leftover pieces into four table favors.

For all of these projects it is best to use sticky strip to make a strong bond.
These are a perfect size for small candies such as Rolos or Hershey's Kisses.  The Candy Cane Kisses are just so cute (and yummy too!)


Friday, December 3, 2010

Christmas Gift Sets

If you are looking for Christmas gift giving ideas you can jump on over to the "Get a Jump on Your Jingle" session of UStamp.

Here are the two gift sets that I designed for it:
This one features a pin with a gift box and gift bag as well as a coordinating card.



The second is a no-sew fabric hot cocoa set.
It holds two cocos packets.
The card and mug use Decor Elements.

You can get the full tutorials for these and 40 other Christmas projects HERE.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Fancy Favor Box Lid Tutorial

Happy Thanksgiving!  We enjoyed a yummy meal with Mom and Dad.  Such a nice day!
I have not had a moment this week to post this little box.   The bottom is the Fancy Favor box.  I wanted to see if I could use the same die to make a lid.  Happily it worked.  It fits a little snugly but this is an easy way to make a top for this box.
I decorated the top with pearls and punched pieces.

Here is a short tutorial for making the lid:
Postion the Fancy Favor die in this position.
Cut a 2-3/4" X 12" piece of cardstock or designer series paper and lay it on the bottom portion of the die.
It will look like this when cut.  Assemble the lid as you would the fancy favor box.
This box holds a surprising amount.
Made in holiday colors it would make a nice hostess gift to take to any gathering.