Gift Bows Part II

Here's another idea for a gift bow using the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' Kit and a Kraft Gift Box.

To make this bow:

• Cut 3 1" strips of Designer Series Paper 8.5", 7", and 5.25"
• Use snail adhesive on one end of the two longer pieces.  Make circles with each of them.
• Cut flags in the ends of the shorter piece 
• use a 1" wide scrap to wrap around the middle of the bow
• I assembled the layers by stacking them together, wrapping the scrap piece around the middle, and punching a small hole in the center. I inserting an Antique Brad to hold them together, but you could use sticky strip or snail adhesive.

Gift Bows Part I

I love beautifully wrapped gifts and decorated packages.  The Kraft Gift Boxes are great little boxes for creating darling packages for your gifts.

My next 3 posts will show 3 different styles of bows that are so easy to make and, of course, pretty!  This little curved bow is super cute and feminine.

•  I drew a bow shape that I liked and then made a template
•  I scored my Designer Series Paper and folded it so I would have an even fold to cut the template out.
•  I used a temporary adhesive (dotto) to stick the template on the paper so it wouldn't shift while I cut it.
•  Once it's cut out, wrap the ends of the bow to the center and use snail adhesive to secure them.
•  Wrap a 1/2" wide scrap around the middle and secure with Snail adhesive
•  Cut flags at each end of the "ribbon tail"
•  Adhere the bow to the ribbon tail with Snail Adhesive

Look Closer!  You can click on the images above to see them enlarged and the images below to see them in my online shop.



Tips:  I used the Mixed Medley stamp set and Versamark Ink to stamp the snow flakes on the box.  I wrapped a 12" x 3/4" strip around the box and it doesn't quite meet - I put the circle sticker (from the Merry Moments kit) in the center to cover the ends.

Product Highlights:

Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' Kit:  The beautiful paper and stickers make gorgeous gift wrap, bows, and tags for gift-giving.





Kraft Gift Boxes:  A perfect size and a great "blank-slate" for creative decorating.


 

Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' Kit

I'm not a traditional scrap-booker (but I LOVE to do it with My Digital Studio), so I generally overlook the scrapbook kits that Stampin' Up! offers.  However, this year, the kits in the Holiday Catalog are so beautiful and enticing, I took the plunge and ordered the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' Kit to see what projects it would inspire.

I used a layout from a card I admired at the Stampin' Up! Convention - made by the creative geniuses at the Stampin' Up! home office.  That card wasn't a Christmas card - but a good layout is a good layout.

• The printed borders look beautiful when combined together
• To cut them to my desired length without having to pull off the whole sticker, I used my "quilting rotary cutter method"
• Use a grid mat and ruler to measure a straight line at the distance you want to cut
• score the sticker with the edge of a sharp pair of scissors - using the edge of the ruler as your straight edge
• peel the sticker to the score - which, with a fold or two, should separate easily
• The various printed circle stickers are a great accent to the edge of a card layer
• The stamped images are from the Open Sleigh stamp set and are embossed with Pewter Stampin' Emboss Powder (which is so beautiful and has an "ooh" and "ahh" factor that leaves other embossing colors in the dust).

Product Highlights:  Click on the images to go right to my online shop and more product details!


Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' Kit:

It's just a beautiful combination of paper and design elements that have endless uses for all your Holiday projects:  cards, scrapbook pages, gift tags & bows, etc.

 

Pewter Stampin' Emboss Powder:   It's a color somewhere between silver, bronze, & gold and it is gorgeous.  It still wows me every time I'm waving my heat gun over it and I see it start to shine.  

Lime in the Coconut

Happy Hour is a great multi-occasion stamp set.  The images have a retro-vibe and the little  "drink decorations" make it just really fun.

• When I saw the margarita glass and the little lime accent that crazy "Lime in the Coconut" song kept going through my head - so I decided to go with it and use browns and greens for my color scheme.
• I stamped the "Cheers" sentiment on vellum paper and layered it over designer series paper.  I attached it with Stampin' Dimensionals, but put the Vintage Trinket Brads on top so the dimensionals wouldn't show through the vellum.
• I snipped out the margarita stamped in Pool Party and then stamped it in Summer Starfruit and sniped out the "drink."  The Lime is stamped in Gumball Green on Lucky Limeade card stock.  I cut a small slit to fit it on the glass.
• The waffle texture in the back ground was made using my Simply Scored scoring tool.

Product Highlights:  Click on the images to go right to my store for more details!

By the Chimney

The new Coredinations Cardstock is so cool to work with!  I used the Woodgrain Embossing folder with the Early Espresso Coredinations cardstock for the perfect background to hang my Christmas Stocking.

Tip:  If you have your Big Shot set at the recommended tab for embossing folders - it will emboss too deeply and possibly tear your Coredinations paper.  Flip all the tabs up and you'll end up with just the right look.

Product Highlights:  Click on any of the images to see these products in my online store!

Coredinations Cardstock:  This paper has a lighter colored core that creates beautiful texture when embossed. 



Open Sleigh Stamp Set:  An inexpensive, versatile set for pretty vintage style Christmas cards.



Festival of Prints Designer Series Paper Stack: This is a great collection of paper - in a smaller, workable size:  4 1/2" x 6 1/2".  For my card, I used exactly half of one sheet.  Many of the prints are versatile enough for projects in any season.



Simply Scored:  I use this tool so often I think I take it for granted.  It makes scoring fold lines so easy, but you can also do cool things like emboss a line around the edges of your card, making an elegant frame.

World Traveler Photobook Template for MDS 2

World Traveler is a photobook template available for download for My Digital Studio.  Not only is it a beautiful and sophisticated template to record your travels and journeys, but all the papers, embellishments, and the stamp brush set, make it incredibly versatile for other projects as well.



Here's the cover page of an album I'm working on to highlight my son's first team sport:  T-Ball.

Most of the elements of my page are from the World Traveler set.  It's really incredible to have all these designing options at my fingertips.  My little craft room would explode if I had all the literal supplies that I have available to me digitally - and the best part of digital designing is I don't have to clean up!

I like click-able images: click on the project photos to see them larger - click on the other images to go right to my online store for more details!

Have a question about how I did something on this page or MDS in general?  Leave a comment or email me.  I'd love to answer it!

The World Traveler Photobook Template and many other awesome downloads are on sale!  Click below for details.

Open Sleigh

The Open Sleigh stamp set from the main catalog is one of my favorite Christmas sets.  It has a lovely old-fashioned "Charles Dickens" feel to it. 

Here's how I put this one together:

• I stamped the sleigh on Crumb Cake CS with Basic Black ink and trimmed it out with my paper snips
• I daubed the Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint on the sleigh for sparkle
• I used Coredinations Card Stock and the Floral Framelits die for the big flower and embossed it with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder
• The strip of Designer Series Paper is from the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' kit in the Holiday Catalog
• The tag is from the Mixed Medley hostess set in the Holiday catalog

Product Highlights:

Open Sleigh is a versatile and beautiful stamp set for vintage themed Christmas projects.




The Coredinations Card Stock is awesome to work with and adds an effortless vintage/distressed look to your projects when combined with an embossing folder.  The lighter colored core comes through even without sanding - but you can deepen the effect with Stampin' Sanding Block.  It's also lovely just "plain" and has a pretty textured finish for an elegant card base.





If you've been reading my blog, you may know that I LOVE the Mixed Medley hostess stamp set.  It coordinates with the super cute 1 1/4" scallop circle punch and make a perfect little tag for a variety of occasions.  Use your hostess dollars to purchase this little gem - earn them with every individual order or party over $150.
 

 

Evil Flying Monkeys

One of my favorite new downloads for MDS2 is the Frightening Feline stamp.  It comes with an 8x8 designer template plus, of course, the super cute kitty. 

I love to make my son's Halloween costumes and I've been looking for the perfect scrapbook layout to show off my all time favorites - the Evil Flying Monkey.  I made this when he was about two and half for his first ever trick or treating adventure.  He got lots of laughs and lots of candy.

• This is a pre-made template.  Easy.
• It allows you to customize it.  Cool.
• I changed the single photo box to 3 smaller photo boxes.  Done!
• Layers are easy to change and manipulate in MDS2, so editing is so easy, much easier than making an evil flying monkey costume.
• Evil flying monkeys are easily pacified with suckers.  Who knew?

The Frightening Feline stamp brush download is only $1.95!  Click below for details.

 

Up-cycled Vase

While rinsing out an empty jar of pizza sauce to throw in the recycle bin, I realized that I like the size and shape of it and it would be a perfect vase for the little bouquets of posies that I like to buy at my local farmer's market.

• I peeled off the label and removed the adhesive residue by soaking it in soapy water 
• I used black Stazon ink and the En Français background stamp
• I rolled the jar over the stamp which covered about half the jar
• I re-inked the stamp and rolled it a second time to cover the other half
• I tied a ribbon around the top, filled it with water and flowers.

Things to keep in mind:  Don't fret if your stamp doesn't come off perfectly or your edges overlap, etc.  This is a pizza sauce jar.  And now it's a pretty vase.  No worries.



 

Jar of Sunshine - PPA Sketch Challenge 141

This is my entry in the Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge - PPA 141.









I think the Perfectly Preserved stamp set is so versatile and fun!  Sunbeam motifs are very trendy, so I decided to fill my jar with a little bit of sunshine!

• I used my sewing machine set at a 3.0 stitch length around the card edge and also for the edge of the 3rd layer - which I also reverse stitched and then went forward again to make an uneven zig zag for a rustic look.
• The sun is punched out with the boho blossom punch
•  the sun beams I made by stamping the jar image on daffodil delight dsp and then cutting it into diagonal beams.  
• I removed every other one and then they all fit nice and neatly inside the jar
• The two middle sentiments are both stamped in More Mustard - the second is a "shadow" stamp, meaning I inked up my stamp, stamped the first and then stamped the second without re-inking (for a lighter color).
•  I used my paper snips to trim out the jar and lid - but the coordinating framelits for this stamp set would make this job much easier

Supplies:
Stamps:  Perfectly Preserved
Ink:  Soft Suede
Paper:  Crumb Cake CS, Comfort Cafe DSP, Whisper White CS, Daffodil Delight CS, Early Espresso CS, Daffodil Delight Patterns DSP
Ribbon:  Linen Thread
Tools:  Big Shot, Bitty Banners Framelits, Boho Blossom Punch