It's a Wrap!

At least there is something being wrapped in our house right now and it's in this lovely gift wrapped box.  In it is a Festive Flurry banner I made which I have gifted to my Mum. I wanted to make a box to protect it and, in a recycle and make-do-and-mend moment, I found a perfect size box.  Of course I needed to make sure it was empty of all the lovely chocolates that it contained first, but needs must!! 

You can just see a little of the banner peeking through the windows of the box.  I re-shaped the windows to match the design of the Winter Frost papers, but cutting the paper with the Festive Flurry dies first.  Remember the Stamps and dies come in a bundle deal (133284) saving you money when you buy them together.

I then added a lovely finished Festive Flurry decoration.  You may recognise this from the pages of the Autumn/Winter catalogue.  The centre of the decoration, under the Frosted Finish (132150) embellishment, is a Silver embossed snowflake, embossed onto a window sheet. The box look fabulously expensive when finished and almost another present in itself!

Wrapping the gifts is one of the tasks I just have not started yet despite best intentions.  It has been traditionally a marathon Christmas Eve event, but I have promised myself this year I will have it all done before then so I can sit back and enter the Christmas Day festivities relaxed and ready for some family fun!

When I do finally start the wrapping, I have some extra decorations to add to my beautifully wrapped gifts as toppers.  I am hoping they can be attached so they can be removed carefully to be used as decorations by the recipients and enjoyed throughout the Christmas period.  That is, if they make it through the frenzied unwrapping!

Here too in the picture, are some simple tags which I have made stock of ready for the wrapping to begin!  The tags were cut with the Chalk Talk die set (129983) for the Big shot.  This set has several labels of a really useful size and I love the little cutouts included in the set to make your decorative holes for the baker's twine or ribbon that you choose.  On the back, I have used the 'To: From:' stamp which is in the Very Merry Tags stamp set (130393) to create my instant tags.  The mini snowflakes are from the Snow Day stamp set (131826) which I have used previously for my Snowman projects.

I have also photos of the banner I have made for my sister so pop back tomorrow when I will be able to show that and some more tags ideas too!

Winter Frost Sepciality (132341)
Festive Flurry Bundle(133284)
Frosted Finishes (132150)
Chalk Talk die set (129983)
Snow Day (131826)
Very Merry Tags  (130393

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

Waste Not - Using Your Leftovers!

Well we all know that using the leftover turkey on Boxing Day for some kitchen creations is just part of the Christmas traditions we all follow, but as crafters it is also very wise to make the most of your products wherever you can too!  I don't know about you, but I have a scraps box and it is full to the brim of off-cuts of cardstock which I dip into from time to time to add small punched shapes and stamp sentiments onto cards.

Did you realise that it is always good to keep the remainder of card when cutting with dies also? Often the outline cut-out left in the card can be incorporated into a design too.  Today's card does just that!

You will have seen the Merry banners I created for the Craft Stalls I ran recently which each featured the 'Merry' sentiment from the Expressions Thinlits ( 132171).  Well when cutting the sentiment I spaced the die so that I had a enough card surrounding it to be able to cut out the leftover and re-use it.

Here is one of the pieces which I have also run through the Perfect Polka Dots emboss folder (117335).  Now for the thinlits sentiments like the one I have used you do need to make sure you catch the small pieces that are cut that sit in the middle of the letter 'e' and the tail of the 'y' so that you can stick them in place to form the letter after.  I must admit I did not try and put these little pieces through the emboss folder as this was a little too fiddly to place.

Tip: If you are not going to use your 'leftovers' straight away, just pop them in a little cello bag and keep them.  I find it is so easy to make a follow-on card when you have ready cut pieces waiting to be used.  I especially do this when using a lettering/numbering set of dies I have which have mutiple of letters or numbers on one die.  I cut all of the die contents then pop the other pieces in a cello to use another time.  As long as I am needing the same colours, I already have some pieces to play with!

There is a lovely mat of Glimmer Paper (124005 Silver) behind the 'Merry' for the Christmas sparkle, but remember, sparkle isn't just for Christmas, this one is available all year round!  The papers on the card are the Winter Frost Speciality Papers (132341) which I have used the Smoky Slate coloured piece from and, you can just see it on the little banners, there is the fantastic silver foil design from the papers too.

OK, I am on a mission to make a Christmas banner for my big sister so off to craft I go.......

Don't forget TODAY is the last day to order in time for Christmas so if you have something on your list for Santa from Stampin' Up! get in touch I am here ready to take an order.

Suzanne
x

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.