Simply Scored Tote

Hope you all had a wonderful celebration of our Lord's birth yesterday.  We enjoyed a very peaceful day at home.  And then came the snow...what a wonderful Christmas gift to us!  I LOVE SNOW!  :)

On Dec. 20th I got together with fellow demonstrators for our annual Christmas Party.  We ate really good food, made adorable projects and exchanged handmade gifts.  The gift that I made was a tote for the Simply Scored tool.  Here's a pic of the finished project.

Several years ago my dear hubby bought me a new sewing machine for my birthday.  It does all kinds of fancy stitches and stuff.  I have used it a lot since I got it, but never really used the fancy stuff, just for regular sewing.  I got brave for this project and used the fancy stitches to embellish the top of the tote and the handles.

I used Stampin' Up fabric for the bottom of the tote.  It has pockets inside and out to store all the little extras.  In the Spring Catalog (coming soon) there is an additional plate that you can get to use with the Simply Scored Tool.  We already have the diagonal plate and I figured a bag to hold it all would be a great gift idea...plus I had to practice, so I made one for myself too. :)  If you are interested in having one of these made for you,  let me know...

12 Days of Christmas Blitz {the Winners!}

1st Prize    Toni Baker

2nd Prize   Ginger Bales

Hand Sanitizer    Lisa Tarry  aka anonymous :)

Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all who participated!

12 Days of Christmas Blitz {Day 12}

Our final day of the Christmas Blitz.  That means tomorrow is Christmas Eve!  And it is also the day I will draw for the winners of the stamp sets!  Here are our final projects...

This tag was created from a FREE download from Stampin' Up!  I printed it out using My Digital Studio, but you do not have to have that program to use this download.  Most of my MDS projects are printed in photoshop.  If you are interested in downloading this go here  and click on the shop now button at the top or bottom of the page.  It is item #132810.  There is no shipping for downloaded items.  Even though you go through the ordering process, you will not have to pay anything for it.  I love the chalkboard look of this tag.  :)

The final project, sadly, has been inspired by my dear daughter...

First of all, she loves all things owls...

Secondly, she is sick and I have been using lots of this item this weekend!

Finally, she works at Bath and Body Works, which happens to be where this wonderful Winter Cranberry sanitizer was purchased.  Here's what it looks like from the side...

If you would like a chance to win FREE STAMPS be sure to leave me a comment and I will add your name to the box.  Also, since it is our last day of the blitz, I am giving away this cute little hand sanitizer too.

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow to see who our winners are!!!

12 Days of Christmas Blitz {Day 11}

I started my day at the Urgent Care Center with my daughter who woke up with a temperature of 102.3.  She tested positive for the flu...yuck!  Not really something we wanted for Christmas.  Fortunately they caught it pretty quick and the doctor was optimistic that the medicine would prevent her from suffering too much.  Praying hard that no one else in our house comes down with it!

Project #1 today is a votive candle that I embellished with some designer series paper, a shimmery snowflake and a paper button.  This will look so cute in my bathroom!

Project #2 is a gift tag made with a circle treat cup.  I used some styrofoam fake snow balls to add to the snow globe look.

On the back I simply punched an additional white circle to write my recipient's name.  Love this little tag!!!

Tomorrow is our final day of the 12 Days of Christmas Blitz.  Can you believe December has gone so fast?  Looking forward to celebrating my Lord's birth with my church family tomorrow!  Hope you have an opportunity to celebrate it also.

12 Days of Christmas Blitz {Day 10}

I LOVE fuzzy socks and wear them almost every day in the winter.  They make a great gift because you don't have to worry about getting the correct size, they come in lots of fun colors, and they aren't real expensive.  Here's a fun way to package them...

It is really simple to roll the socks up so they look like a yummy drink in the mug.  I included a hot cocoa packet and punched a cute tag.  I also made some with tags created on My Digital Studio...

Wouldn't that be a great item to put in a gift basket along with this?!  :)

Since I am way behind on my posts this week, I am going to double up on projects to finish off our 12 Days of Christmas.  This one turned out so cute!  It is made using the Two Tags Die.  I just cut 2 of them out of the Be of Good Cheer designer series paper.  I scored 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of each tag.  I glued these "flaps" together to create the bottom.  Then I punched holes at the scalloped end and tied together with  gumball green ribbon.  Simple and cute.  I just added some snowflakes and a shimmery brad to dress up the front.

And of course it needed to hold a little prize so I chose chocolate!

There will be two more posts for the 12 Days of Christmas Blitz.  I will draw for the winners on Monday.  Be sure to leave a message so your name will be in the drawing!

On Monday I promised to give away a cute green stamped plate.  My dear hubby did the honors of drawing.  And the winner is......drum roll.....Vickie Kunau!  I was really excited that he drew her, because I knew she would be excited about winning!

Hope you have an amazing and blessed weekend.  I will be back with 2 more projects tomorrow!

12 Days of Christmas Blitz {Day 6}

I enjoy looking around at thrift stores and flea markets just to see what treasures I might find.  Last month I found these plates at the thrift store.

They were very cheap and I wanted to play around with them, so I bought the ones that weren't chipped or missing any embellishments.  I have stamped on glossy tiles before, but never on glass so I wasn't sure if my experiment was going to work.  In the end I was very pleased.

It did take a long while to emboss because glass doesn't heat up as quick as paper.  I was worried also, that my embossing powder was going to stick all over the plate, even though I used the embossing buddy on it.  In the end, though, the embossing powder only stayed where it was supposed to.

If you leave a comment I will put your name in the drawing for free stamps.  As a bonus today, I am giving away one of these stamped plates also.  So get your name in the drawing!!!

Finally, I want to wish my hubby a very happy 24th anniversary.  I spent some time in my craft room making something special for him also...

Have an awesome Monday!

12 Days of Christmas Blitz {Day 5}

Sorry for the late post.  Had an awesome time worshiping the Lord at church this morning though!  Now I am about to enjoy some Sunday relaxation (including Broncos football)!  But first our project for today...

A while back I bought some cute ornaments at the craft store that looked like Christmas lights.  They were clear and I used reinkers and glitter to make them sparkle.  I thought they would make a cute tag, because they are small, so I used Stampin' Up's silver pen to write my daughter's name on one and attached it to the bag with some curling ribbon.  I like this idea because the tag is now a bonus gift for the recipient.  

I enjoy shopping, but I enjoy wrapping the gifts too and would love to hear what unique ideas you are using as you prep your packages this season.  Remember, each day you share a comment your name gets added to the drawing for FREE STAMPS!

12 Days of Christmas Blitz {Day 4}

I felt so accomplished when I began a Christmas Card Club in July and got a head start on my cards for the year.  Now it is December 15 and, although they are made, they have not been addressed and mailed...ugh! I am going to work on that today, but our project for today comes first.

One of the cards for our club had snowflakes on it, and I ended up with lots of strips of paper that looked like this...

Not wanting to waste any of that precious paper, or all that work punching them out, I came up with some ideas to use these "scraps."  I made a tag and a card that were very simple, but cute.

Today I worked on another tag using the snowflake images that were left over.  It is a little more involved...

I put a small square of the champagne glimmer paper behind the snowflake cut out to add some bling.  Hope you get some inspiration for your packages this year!  Now I am off to address cards...

Don't forget to leave a comment and I will put your name in the drawing for free stamps!  You can see exactly what stamps are up for grabs here.

12 Days of Christmas Blitz {Day 3}

This day has been greatly anticipated by my family.  We are big Lord of the Rings fans and have anxiously awaited the opening day of  The Hobbit.  If you are a Tolkien fan, you might catch some Hobbit humor in this post. ; )

I am so excited about the fun project for today.  I haven't made one of these in a while, but they always turn out so cute!  There are lots of pictures, so you will be able to try this project on your own.

Box In A Bag(gins) 

First, take a 4 1/2 X 4 1/2 piece of cardstock and score it at 1 inch on all sides.  In the four corners score a diagonal line in the little one inch squares

Fold your box bottom on the score lines.

Then use sticky strip to adhere the sides of the box bottom together.

Next you will need an 11 X 5 inch piece of Designer Series Paper.  Attach sticky strip along one long end [aka Bag End] which will be the bottom, and also on one side.

Remove the red liner from the bottom edge of the DSP and begin adhering it to the box bottom.  Start it in the middle of the back panel.  Keep edges of the paper even as you work around.  

When you have 3 1/2 sides attached, go ahead and peel the red liner from the side edge of the DSP.  Then finish wrapping it around the box bottom.

This is what it will look like when you're finished.  Now the fun begins, because we get to dress it up :)

I used a piece of real red cardstock that was 1 X 11 inches and punched one edge with the scallop border punch.

I jazzed it up with the white gel pen...

and added strips of sticky strip "there and back again" to the back side.

Then I added it to the bottom edge of my box, like I did with the DSP .

I punched a couple tags and used the white gel pen to make them festive also.

1/2 inch white circles were punched and added to the middle, then I used my crop-a-dile to punch a hole through all the layers of each tag.  I used sticky strip to adhere the tags to the top of the bag.

I added a fun embellishment to the front of the bag and used silver cord to tie it closed [with a "Bilbo(w)", of course]... almost done...

And here is the finished product ready to go under the tree!

This cute Box in a Bag could hold a small bottle of lotion, a candle, or maybe some chocolate for elevensies and afternoon tea.  I can't tell you what I'm putting inside mine because it might be used to hold your gift and I don't want to ruin the surprise!  :)

Hope you have a chance to give this a try.  Leave a comment and I will enter your name in a drawing for FREE STAMPS (see post on 12-12-12 for details).

12 Days of Christmas Blitz {Day 2}

Today is going to be a busy, but exciting one.  First, I am traveling to Little Rock with a friend (prayers appreciated) and later both my babies will be home for the holidays! 

Here's today's gift idea...

Aren't they yummy looking?!  These are hot chocolate cones and each one has enough for 2 servings of hot cocoa.  I used Wilton disposable decorator icing cones to make them.  Each cone uses 2 bags.  You add the hot cocoa mix to the first bag and use a small rubber band to close it tight.  Then you insert that bag into the second bag, add mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips and tie that bag closed with some festive ribbon.  I used My Digital Studio to make some little tags the say "hot cocoa for 2" to finish it off.

Don't forget to leave a comment and I will add your name into the box for the free stamp set!

Have an awesome day!

12 Days of Christmas Blitz!!! Day 1

Today is 12-12-12.  The perfect day to start the... 

12 Days of Christmas Blitz.  

I will share gift ideas, wrapping ideas, a tag, etc. each day beginning today and ending on December 23. Since this is the season of giving, there will also be opportunities to win free stuff!  I will be giving away a stamp set to 2 lucky winners at the end of our blitz.  Every day that you visit this blog and leave a comment, your name will be entered in a drawing for the free stamp sets.  There will be 2 winners and the name drawn first will have their choice of the prizes.  The second name drawn will receive the other set.  I must have contact information for you to be eligible to win a prize!  Here are the stamp sets that I will give away....

Gift Givers  Set of 7 Stamps

Reason To Smile  Set of 7 Stamps

Day 1 Blitz Idea...

 Everyone needs lip balm, especially during these cold months.  This is an inexpensive, yet practical gift for any age.  Wrap it up in pillow box, or make a cute little box and hang it on the tree. The pillow box in the picture was covered with fabric (also cut out with the Big Shot using the pillow box die).  I used spray adhesive to attach the fabric to the cardstock pillow box.  I did not try to glue the ends closed, just tied them up with the ribbon.  Very quick and easy.  The box with the ribbon handle was only a little more time consuming.  I used the pattern below (thank you Michelle Litwiller!) and cut it out of Designer Series Paper.  Also quick and easy, which is just what we need since its already Dec.12!

Don't forget to leave a comment so you can be entered in the drawing for the stamp set give away!  Hope you have an awesome day.  Check back tomorrow for the next Christmas Blitz idea!

World Cardmaking Day!

Saturday was World Cardmaking Day, but I had some activities planned with my family so we celebrated early.  I got together with some friends on Friday night (despite the storms) and crafted.  We stamped and played with shaving cream.  It was fun, especially with a certain 7 year old boy in attendance---he loved the shaving cream!  Here are samples of the cards we created...

Thank you to those who came out to celebrate with me!  If you missed this event and want to learn how we did this, come to my next class and you can check it out.

Love Your Pastor!

Loving my pastor comes natural for me, since I married him.  But there are other pastors in the church that need to feel the love also, and this is the month to show it.  October is Pastor Appreciation month---so go show your pastor some love!  Let him know that you are praying for him and that you appreciate his service.

Here's a pic of the gift I made this week  for our Senior Pastor to let him know we love and support him.  I used My Digital Studio to create this and then added a few embellishments after I printed it.

I am still experimenting with photographing art behind glass.  It is kind of tricky and I haven't gotten it down yet, as you can see from the slightly blurred  photo.  I would like to blame the camera, but it was probably user error.  I tried many techniques---you should have seen me with a black sheet draped over me to hide my reflection in the glass!  Finally I took it outside, without the black sheet, and felt it was adequate despite the visible reflection.

I hope this inspires you to do something nice for the leaders in your church.  :)

Arrrgh, Matey!

In honor of September 19, Talk Like a Pirate Day, I created a quick scrapbook page of my kiddos in the fall show at the Forum last year.  Hope you will celebrate this day with me!