Monthly Archives: November 2016
I haven’t gone Soft!
I just wanted to share a card that proves that I haven’t gone soft! I have been making so many lovely, glittery, flowery, shiny, flouffy cards, tags and mini albums lately, I was afraid of slipping into a diabetic coma of some sort. To shake it off, I created this card which is more in keeping with my usual disposition on life.
Now Sandra would say this sentiment is exactly what I would say and do to her, but that is not Totally true! I do actually care for Sandra, but it doesn’stop me from heaping all the blame on her. LOL!
Supplies:
Deep Red Gorilla stamp, Bo Bunny Safari patterned paper, Sentiment by Riley & Co
Make it Monday- Papertrey Ink # 268
Somehow, I must have thought that the 25 tags I created for the 25 Tags of Christmas Challenge was not enough, because I made two more for this week’s Papertrey Ink Challenge. What a difference it makes in creating time when you have the perfect components altogether in stamp and dies sets designed to go together.
The little triangle on the envelope is just a stray piece of ribbon that hitch hiked its’ way into the photo, Since it matches the colour scheme I am just going to leave it. It even balances the look of the envelope so I guess it was serendipity!
Supplies: Papertrey ink Post and Parcel stamps and dies, Papertrey Ink plaid patterned paper, Papertrey Ink Sprinkles and Sparkle sequins, Casual Fri-dies tag dies, Simon Says Stamp woodgrain cardstock, American Crafts ribbon and My Mind.s Eye enamel shapes.
25 Tags of Christmas Day 14 -25
I can’t believe that I actually made 25 different tags, actually more because some days had two. I just went day by day on Tracey’s blog first checking to see who the sponsor for that day was, and then glancing through the design team samples to see which tag caught my eye. In some cases, i did not have any product from that sponsor, and so I had to look for an inspiring tag and then try to create something similar with what I did have. In other cases, I had some stamps sets or dies of the sponsor but they did not lend themselves easily to a Christmas theme. In those cases, I used something and turned it into something Christmasy as best I could. Those ones were the most challenging and the most fun to do.
Day 14: Neat and Tangled
The inspiration was Daria’s tag. Specifically, the inspiration was snowballs. I started to think about, “what if someone got snowballs as a gift”. Well, truthfully, the cardboard box die from Neat and Tangled is one of my favorites of all time dies and I wanted to use it, and then I thought about the snowballs.
Daria’s Tag (bottom right):
My tag:
This probably my favorite tag of the whole set!
Neat and Tangled box die. Patterned paper from Lawn Fawn. Snowball are Merry Mini’s from Michaels.
Day 15: Lawn Fawn
The inspiration was Yainea’s tag:
In this case, I zoomed in on the twine which looks like some I have and the vellum, and the snow storm and last but not least the Lawn Fawn plaid in the background,
My tags:
Winter Alpaca stamp set from Lawn Fawn. Vellum from Michaels. Snowflake stamps from Stampology. Patterned paper from Lawn Fawn. Pico embellisher and Liquid applique in white.
Day 16: Muse Christmas Visions
Muse is a card club and not a store so I was able to just get inspiration from the samples and do whatever.
I chose to use Natasha’s tag as inspiration because she used woodgrain cardstock which I love and her tag reminded me of a Taylored Expressions stamp I had that was not yet used.
Natasha’s Tag:
My tag:
Taylored Expressions A Winter View stamp set. Simon Says Stamp woodgrain cardstock. Pretty Pink Posh seed beads and Papertrey Ink rainstones. Tim Holtz Christmas words.
Day 17: Birch Press Design
I had no problem being inspired by the lovely tags from Birch Press, but sadly I do not own anything from Birch Press. I certainly wish I did. Their dimensional cover plate dies are totally unique and totally amazing.
The inspiration I chose on this day was Tracey’s tag:
My tag:
Stamp is from Heartfelt Creations. Texture paste from Ranger. Liquid applique in white. Homemade snowflake stencil.
Day 18: Paper Sweeties
Paper Sweeties is an online store. I have not yet shopped there, but intend to check them out.
In the meantime, I was inspired by Debbie’s tag:
My tag:
This tag is from Tim Holtz and literally is the size of a bread bag tag. It will have to go on a very small gift. the holly is from Heartfelt Creations.
Day 19: Concord and 9th
The inspiration today came from Jessica:
Once again I liked the kraft paper along with the stylized Christmas Tree.
Here is my take:
Loving the Perfectly Penned stamp set from Concord and 9th. Paired it with bottle brush tree from Papertrey Ink and a Merry Chritmas sentiment from Stampendous.
Day 20: Sunny Studios and Altenew
The Inspiration tag was from Emily:
I wanted to make something using Sunny Studios Fishtail Banner Designs.
My tag:
Day 21: Waffle Flower
The Inspiration was Tracey’s shirt tags.
I decided to have my Santa go casual:
Sentiment from Waffle Flower. Zipper die by Marianne’s Designs.
Day 22: Mint Owl Studio
I do not have any Mint Owl stamps sets in my stash but I took inspiration from Tracey;s tag:
My tag:
Stamp Set is Happy Howlidays from Lawn Fawn. Patterned Paper from Lawn Fawn.
Day 23: Reverse Confetti
The inspiration tag was this one by Leigh:
My tag:
The frame is All Framed Up by Reverse Confetti. The car is by Stampin Up. Mountains are from Lawn Fawn. Tree is from Heartfelt Creations and the road is from Mama Elephant.
Day 24: Pretty Pink Posh
My inspiration came from Joni because I love all things with little windows.
When I made my tag I had to add my little bow die from Pretty Pink Posh and of course sequins:
Day 25: Jillibean Soup
I took inpiration from Juliana’s shaker tag:
Because Jillibean Soup shaker forms are deeper than most, I could put some very dimensional little items in it.
My tag:
Whew that is it! I have enough tags for all my gift giving this year. Now it is on to Christmas cards.
November Blog Hop Papertrey Ink-Finished Project
Today is the day to post the finished project for Papertrey Ink’s November Blog Hop. My fingers are all limbered up from the crazy number of Black Friday bargains that I have put into a cart. I even followed through and ordered some of the things that I put in the cart. The horrible current exchange rate caused me to abandon several other potential purchases though.
Back to the project at hand. Here is the inspiration photo once again:
Here is my finished project:
25 Days of Christmas Tags – Day 8-13
Day 8: Uniko Studio
I am back with more tags to enter in the 25 days of Christmas Tags Challenge. As I mentioned in the last post, I ran into a snag on Day 8 in trying to use product from each sponsor of the challenge. I did not have anything from Uniko Studio which appears to be a company from the UK.
The best I could do is use the inspiring tag from Jane and create something similar with what I had.
Jane’s tag:
My tag:
Stamps are from Papertrey Ink. Tag dies are Casual Fri-dies
Day 9: Avery Elle
Day 9 went much easier. I have a selection of Avery Elle stamps and dies and I particularly love the moose that Tracey used in her tag.
The Inspiration from Tracey:
My tag:
Stamp set and dies from Avery Elle. Patterned paper from Reminisce.
Day 10: Sugar Pea Designs
I had trouble again on Day 10 as I have no product from Sugar Pea Designs. I am happy to say there is a new die in the mail to me from Sugar Pea as we speak. In the meantime I drew inspiration from Lisa’s tag and made do with a similar stamp that I had.
The Inspiration:
My tag:
Day 11: Technique Tuesday
I thought this day would be fairly easy but my stash of Technique Tuesday product was decidedly un-Christmasy! Taking inspiration from Daniela’s tag with trees, I turned mine into a Christmas tree that lights up with help from a Technique Tuesday stamp set. This one was a bit of a strrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrettttttttttttttttcccccccccchhhhhhhhhhh but I like the resulting tag.
The inspiration:
My tag:
Stamp set is from Technique Tuesday. Patterned paper from Lawn Fawn and the dies from Papertrey Ink.
Day 12: Serendipity Stamps
Sadly, I do not have anything from Serendipity Stamps, but I took inspiration from this tag and dug around to to see what I had:
My tag:
Stamp is Impression Obsession.
Day 13: Lil’ Inker
Well if you thought Day 12 was a stretch, welcome to Day 13. Thought about this one over night as it was really a challenge to make a Christmas Tag with what I have from Lil Inker. I have a fantastic stitched rectangle set which I coulda maybe shoulda made into a tag and let it go at that……………but no……
The inspiration is Jen’s card:
Do you get it …………..bears and forest go together like the things in my tag: Turns out I love this tag and if I have a spare two hours, I will recreate it.
My tag:
Stamp sets are Lil Inker and High Hopes Rubber Stamps, Die is from Wplus9. Christmas word is from Clearly Besotted. Santa’s hat die came off the Ark I think….Stampin Up 1995.
25 Days of Christmas Tags
Somewhere in my morning ritual of following a number of crafting people, I came across someone who mentioned that they were going to also enter their tag into the 25 Days of Christmas Tags 2016 Challenge. This intrigued me as I wanted to make a number of Christmas tags this year. Following the link, I ended up on the blog of Tracey McNeely, named In my Creative Opinion. It appears to be a Canadian Blog, so I was even more interested. The problem is that the challenge started on November 1 and it was now November 21st! That meant a lot of catching up to do.
I always feel a need to justify my huge stash, by making a concentrated effort to actually use everything I have bought. It occurred to me that I could add to this challenge by challenging myself to make a tag using products from each of the 25 sponsors of the challenge. So far, I have managed to do this, but there is a problem looming on Day 8.
The rules of the challenge include citing the source of the tag inspiration from the tags done by each sponsor’s design team.
Day 1: Casual Fridays
I was inspired by this tag from Kelly
My tag:
My tag is from Casual Fri-dies. Snowflake Simon Says Stamp and Sleigh image from Heartfelt Creations.
Day 2: Poppy Stamps
Inspiration from Michelle:
My tag:
Oval pine die is from Poppy Stamps. Tag is Casual Fri-dies, Woodgrain cardstock is Simon Says Stamp, Pinecone charm is Tim Holtz,
Day 3: Newton’s Nook
My tag:
Cat image is Newton from Newton’s Nook. Patterned paper Reminisce, ornament is rom Simon Says Stamp, Pine boughs from Poppy Stamps
Day 4: Simon Says Stamp
Inspiration from Tracey:
My tag:
Merry Christmas die is Simon Says Stamp. Tag is from Ranger, Star die and embossing powder is from Recollections.
Day 4: Simon Says Stamp
Inspiration by:
My tag:
Birch trees die is from Simon Says Stamp as is the woodgrain cardstock. The dear is from Impression Obsession. Ribbon is from Recollections.
Day 5: Winnie and Walter
Inspiration from
My tag:
Decorations on the ornaments is from Winnie and Walter. Ornament bases are from Papertrey Ink and the patterned paper is from Reminisce.
Day 6: Open No particular Sponsor
Inspiration
My tag:
Background is from Reverse Confetti. Season’s Greetings die is from Simon Says stamp. Sequins are from Pretty Pink Posh and Craft Medley. Tag is from Elizabeth Crafts.
Day 7 : Ellen Hutson
Inspiration
My tag:
Brown woodgrain cardstock and Totally/Fabulous dies are from Ellen Hutson. Patterned paper from Photoplay. Santa and Sleigh are from Papertrey Ink.
November Blog Hop – Papertrey Ink
The blog hop is on November 25th but Papertrey Ink has already posted the Inspiration Photo so I could get started on it. Wasn’t that nice of them to do that specially for me! LOL.
Here is the photo:
I decided to use the colours as the inspiration and break out my new Tiny Town Gingerbread House from Papertrey Ink. I had been talking with Sandra about how popular things that light up are these days, so my goal was also to have this light up. Of course, that changes the engineering of the basic box to accommodate this and that means added time.
It is far from complete as I have some grandiose ideas for a base, trees, yard and fence that may or may not come to pass. Here is what it looks like so far:
This is a project that looks much better in real life than it does in these photos.
I was in a hurry and didn’t use a tripod and it is a dull gray snowy day so the lighting is poor. The accents are in foiled cardstock which never seems to translate well in photos either.
Oh well, I am hoping for a vast improvement in both the photography and the project by the blog hop on the 25th.
Make it Monday-Papertrey Ink #267
This week’s Make it Monday Challenge fit right in with what I was working on. The challenge was to create several items at a time. I don’t normally make production line cards. The fun for me is mostly in the designing process and each attempt gives me more ideas for different cards so I rarely make the same one twice. I realized the folly of my method when I thought about wanting to create all my Christmas cards, gift tags and gift cards for the holidays. One at a time was going to be painfully slow.
Here was my starting place. Even when trying to make everything the same, I had to throw in both white and brown woodgrain frames, mats, envelopes and mailbox posts for variety.
Because I like to keep my options open, I only converted one of the mailboxes to a full sized card. The rest may be used as gift tags, just by cutting off part of the mailbox post and adding some twine.
Now I am thinking about mass producing the freestanding little mailbox as a combination napkin holder and place card for the Christmas dinner table. That is, if I think I can handle the Martha Stewart jokes that will be flung at me if I do! LOL!.
The inspiration in this kit is mind boggling. Included is a twenty page idea download with ideas to keep one busy for a long time, including some non Christmas ideas that are amazing. Kudos to Betsy and the entire Papertrey Ink creative team. Your creativity and attention to detail is simply astonishing!
Post and Parcel Kit- Papertrey Ink
If you are looking for a way to chew up a lot of time, grab yourself the Post and Parcel Kit from Papertrey Ink. It is one of those kits where you start out with one idea to make one thing and you end up with a hundred ideas and have a hundred things in various stages of production. So much fun! If I keep working, I may end up with enough tags and gift cards and envelopes to use for all my gifts in Christmas 2017. Note I did not say for this Christmas as that is too short a deadline!
One thing, that happens to me consistently, is that the moment I decide to move a craft tool or item from my front and center storage, to a more out of the way storage due to dis-use, I need that item. That happened with this kit project. I had several hot glue guns and glue sticks taking up room in my main tool drawer and they hadn’t been used for years. Off they went to long term storage in the basement and, you guessed it, I needed that kind of glue to hold up the mail box post. So, of course, back upstairs they came.
Here is a small selection of the fabu things I am working on:
I had the idea that I would make my own wrapping paper. That way I could be sure that the paper and the tags match well. The making of this little blue box covered in homemade paper, convinced me that I am hallucinating if I think I could eliminate commercial paper. I have now modified that idea considerably.
The bigger red mailbox can hold small gifts or gift cards and is decorated with texture paste using the stencils in the kit. Isn’t that little padlock just the cutest.
The little mailbox is supposed to hold two little chocolates, but I wanted to show that it also holds one little bottle of Stickles, should any of my crafty friends be inclined to give me one of those for Xmas. I had a issue gluing on the post to the mailbox (not in the center), and another issue with the thick embossing powder I used cracking, when I tried to roll it into the mailbox shape. These two issues resulted in the misshapen mailbox you see here. I am about to start over, thus my comment about chewing up time.
This one turned out very well. The gift card slides under the bow on to the postage stamp shaped mat and the whole thing fits in the matching envelope. The little envelope also pulls out and opens to another little postage stamp mat with the recipients name written on it. It seems I give more and more gift cards than presents with each passing Christmas so I am happy to have something with which I can personalize them.
Well it is back to the drawing board, to see if I can make a less lop sided mailbox.
Test of Time- Mini Book Project
Quite some time ago my daughter in law, Lisa and I started on a mini book crafting project. We got only partially finished after taking far more time than Lisa imagined the project would take. Then life got in the way and the unfinished project sat there waiting for life’s business to subside.
Lisa decided she wanted to finish the book for a friend who is soon to have a baby girl. This was convenient as the book was all sugar and spice. At long last the book was completed at midnight last night. Yes, midnight! No matter to me, being retired but there is no rest for Lisa. Her daughter, Kylie was up at 5:45 am and so, of course, was poor Lisa.
I was curious to see if the book stood the test of time. There has been an evolution in my crafting style, not to mention lots and lots and lots of craft supplies added to my craft room since we started on that book. Some of you may recognize the round mini book from Graphic 45. I was happy to see that I still liked how the book looked and I think it turned out well.
The book is double sided and folds up accordion like. When folded up, it ties up with the pink ribbon and fits in the round metal film canister. Each page has a mat/banner/card/frame for a picture. The dotted vellum envelope is for a lock of the baby’s hair.
DebSelby
Maverick Muses 