Christmas 2023 | Tiny Gift Bag

Hi there!

Today I’m sharing the steps I followed to create the cutest tiny gift bag using My Favorite Things’ (MFT) “Gift Bag” die set and some products from Tim Holtz and Spellbinders.

• Using the MFT “Gift Bag” dies, I die cut the gift bag from the Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Christmas 2023 Backdrops paper and I chose the piece that looks like old school candy sticks – you cut this piece twice.

• For the bag’s handles, I used the same die set as above and only used the handle die and Simon Says Stamp’s Luxe Glitter Cardstock in gold to cut the cardstock four times for a front and back side of each handle.

• I glued the two sides of the gift bag and the handles together Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium and set it aside to dry.

• Using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Thinlets “Big Tidings”, I cut the holly leaves and berry from some green cardstock from my stash and a scrap of Simon Says Stamp’s Rich Red Matte Metallic Cardstock, then glued those to the upper right corner of my little gift bag.

• Using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Thinlets “Chilly & Freezy – December 2022”, I cut the left facing snowman and its scarf and hat from random cardstock from the scraps bin and glued the pieces together to complete the snowman and used the Distress Collage Medium to adhere him to the right side of the gift bag. I glued a little white pearl embellishment to the end of the snowman's hat for added dimension.

• I crazily decided I wanted to create custom tissue paper so I grabbed a small piece of wrapping tissue paper and added small green and red dots in random places about the tissue using Cranberry and Green Stickles… don’t laugh.

• For the little gift tag, I used the Spellbinders “Christmas Magic” hot foil plates – I chose the “Not a Pony” plate – and hot foiled the sentiment onto a small piece of Simon Says Stamp “School House” red cardstock and die cut the tag using Spellbinders’ “Assorted Tags” cutting dies.  I adhered the tag to one of gift bag’s handles.  So cute!

• I wrapped the gift I was placing inside the bag with some of the hand-decorated tissue and cut two rectangles to pop out the front and back sides of the bag.

That wraps up another Christmas project for 2023 and it couldn’t be more cute!  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I appreciate you doing so!

Happy Making!

We're Moving! | Honey Bee Stamps

Hi there!

Today I’m sharing the steps I followed to mass-produce our "we're moving" notification cards I created that I’ll be sending out to our friends and family.  All the dies used to create this card front were from a Honey Bee Stamps die set called “Lovely Layers: Front Porch”.

• Using die P1, use extra pressure (to capture the die’s embossing) to cut this layer from grey cardstock.  I lightly dragged the Altenew Crisp Dye Ink “Silver Lake” across the raised areas of the die cut to add dimension.

• Using dies P2, P4, P5, and P6, use extra pressure (to capture the die’s embossing) to cut this layer from a dark brown cardstock.  After cutting, I used a Waffle Flower Shader 1 brush to apply Simon Says Stamp’s Charcoal Pawsitively Saturated Ink to the edges of the die cuts.

• I cut die P3 from the same grey cardstock as I did for P1.  Then I glued die cuts P1 through P6 together with Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium.  Before moving on to the doorway dies I did decide to use the Charcoal ink pad and edge the roofing just for a little interest.

• For die D1, I used some lighter weight white cardstock since it will be more of a base layer for the door elements.  Then I blended some Simon Says Stamp “Sunbeam” ink into the window areas that will show through a couple of the following die cuts.

• I had to cut die D2 twice, once from Spellbinder’s “Phone Booth” red cardstock since I wanted a red door.  Then I cut D2 again and added die L2 out of Gina K. Designs “Onyx Black” cardstock to create the frame for the windows and lamps.  Half of the lamp die had to be cut one more time to get a white background for the light panes to be yellow (Simon Says Stamp “Sunbeam” ink.  Then I ink blended the door edges with Simon Says Stamp’s “Cherry” ink prior to gluing all the D2 pieces together.

• Die D3 was cut from Bristol Smooth, white cardstock since I wanted a heftier look for the pieces that separate the side windows from the door.  I glued all the door pieces to the door base with Distress Collage Medium.  And glued to both sides of the door.

• To make the decorative shrubs, I cut die T1 from dark brown cardstock, die T2 from Spellbinder’s “Fern” cardstock and accented it with a Copic G28 marker, and the planter base die was cut from a lighter shade of brown cardstock that I just had in my stash and ink blended the edges with Simon Says Stamp’s “Mocha” ink.  Then I glued all the shrub pieces together and glued them to both sides of the door.

• For the card front background, I ink blended directly onto the card base itself (A2 side folding).  I used the My Favorite Things “Mini Cloud Edges” stencil and Altenew Polar Bear ink to blend the cloud design for the sky.  Then I used Lawn Fawn’s “Slimline Hillside Stencil” and Altenew’s “Grass Field” ink to blend the grass line.

• Lastly, I glued the completed front porch die cuts to the card base and that completes the card!

Thank you for checking out my blog… until next time, happy making!

Christmas 2023 | Santa’s Sleigh

Hi there! Today I’m sharing the steps I followed to mass-produce my 2023 Christmas cards that I will be sending out to my friends and family.

• Cut as many pieces as necessary of black cardstock to measure 6” x 5” to create the card base front for all my cards.

• Using the Honey Bee Stamps “Snowflakes Background” stencil and Tim Holtz’s Distress Sparkle Texture Paste, I applied a thin coat of the paste through the stencil over each of the pieces of black cardstock and set aside to dry.

• Cut all the black card panels to measure 4-1/4” x 5-1/2” using the Trinity Stamps “Modern Embossed Rectangle Stack”.

• Using Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White Ink, I splattered little white specks over all my pieces of black cardstock and set them aside to dry.

• For the reindeer, I used the Rubbernecker “Flying Reindeer” die and cut the pieces from cardstock colors represented on the packaging. I used Altenew Crisp Dye Inks in Dark Chocolate for the antlers and Raw Umber for blending on the bodies. I glued all the pieces together, added a tiny drop of Nuvo Crystal Drops in Red Berry to the reindeer noses, a dot of Gelly Roll Black Glaze pen to the eyes, and set them aside to dry while I moved onto the next element.

• The sleigh was created using the Rubbernecker “Santa’s Sleigh” die set – I cut the rails and top trim from Simon Says Stamp Matte Gold cardstock and the body of the sleigh itself was cut from American Crafts red textured cardstock (it’s from the Christmas 12x12 pack). I glued the three pieces together and set aside to dry.

• The Santa and gifts were die cut using the Rubbernecker “Santa with Presents” die set -– I cut the mustache, beard, cuffs, and hat trimmings from Simon Says Stamp Snow White Pawsitively Velvet Luxury Cardstock and the rest of the elements were cut from color appropriate cardstocks from my stash. I used Sakura Gelly Roll Moonlight #438 for Santa’s eyes followed by the clear Sakura Gelly Roll Glaze to make them shine. The Santas were a bit time consuming, but I absolutely love piecing die cuts together… it’s like a puzzle!

• The greeting sign was created using the Rubbernecker “Winter Sign” and the Whimsy Stamps “Slimline ATC Windows” die sets. I cut the red, brown, and white pieces from a textured cardstock pad I bought at Hobby Lobby and the snowy pieces were cut from Cardstock Warehouse’s White Diamond Glitter cardstock. For the rectangular sentiment sign, I used Tim Holtz/Ranger’s Distress Specialty Stamping Paper. I die cut all the sign shapes. For the sentiment, I chose the Season’s Greetings stamp from Simon Says Stamp’s “Cozy Christmas” stamp set and used Simon Says Stamp’s Pawsitively Saturated ink in the Cherry color.

• The snowy hills were cut using the Rubbernecker “Deckle Hills” dies. For each card’s hills, I cut a 1-1/2” piece of Cardstock Warehouse’s White Diamond Glitter cardstock and used the deckle die to cut the strip of sparkly cardstock in half which gave me perfect hills and valleys for my greenery.

• For the trees on the hills, I used the Sizzix/Tim Holtz die set called “Tall Pines” (665583) and cut it into pieces to place the trees in a couple of spots.

• Now for the assembly! I put the toy bag, Santa and the two gift packages in the sleigh and glued them in place. I glued the reindeer (except his antlers/head) onto the card front. Before gluing the reindeer’s head, I placed an 8” strand of golden string around the neck of the reindeer and placed the two ends underneath the assembled Santa’s sleigh, held it in place with a piece of tape, trimmed the excess string, then glued the sleigh to the card front.

• For the sign, I took two very small strips of brown cardstock and glued one end of the strips to the signpost and the other end to the actual sign.

• I glued one half of the snowy hill just off the bottom edge of the card front and glued my trees into place. I popped up the second half of the snowy hill onto Simon Says Stamp’s Big Momma Foam tape strips and made sure to leave a slot clear of tape for the signpost and adhered it to the card front.

• I added the assembled sign to the card using Simon Says Stamp’s thin 3D foam squares to give it some dimension. Used liquid glue to adhere the reindeer and a combination of 3D foam squares and liquid glue to adhere Santa and his sleigh since there were variations in depth depending on how much cardstock ended up in any give spot.

• Once the card fronts were all completed, I adhered them to an A2 top folding card base. Finished!

This card was probably not the most ideal for bulk producing because all the paper piecing and assembly was quite time consuming, but I'm glad I created them and love how they turned out.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you doing so! :)