Christmas-y Notes in a Little Box

Hello hello! It’s like 2 weeks ’til Christmas, and 2 days ’til Hanukkah  – how’s your holiday crafting going?? A while ago, in the thick of my card-production haze, I decided that what I absolutely needed to do–at that very moment–was to make something different. And then the Power Poppy 12 Days of Christmas December Challenge rolled in with some fabulous not-the-usual-cards-and-stuff inspiration. (Seriously, if you haven’t checked it out–click that link!)

So I’ve been dying to play with the Under Glass: Christmas Traditions set from Power Poppy, and what I came up with were some little holiday-adjacent notes that can be used for post-holiday thank yous, or for tucking into a gift, or as just something to send when you get an unexpected card and need to reciprocate (!!) I love the little scenes that you can put into the cloches, to create your own little world in there…

I colored these cards with colored pencils, in that same color palette I’ve been working with lately (below).

I’ve really enjoyed working with a few select colors. It seems to streamline how I choose to color each element of my projects (limited choices!), and I’ve learned a lot about shading/under coloring, because I can’t go looking for more colors to add in. Bonus: I can be lazy and just leave the pencils out on my table for a few weeks 😉

Once these cards were colored, I added sparkle with Stickles and Wink of Stella, but these cards can also be colored very simply. I just like to get all extra sometimes.

Oh, and the “Holiday Hello” sentiment is from Power Poppy.  The others are from a Waffle Flower set (“Heartfelt Thanks”) and Simon Says Stamp (“Thanking you for thanking me”). My notecards and envelopes came from Paper Source.

To contain and present my cards, I finally got to use my Gift Box die from Lawn Fawn.  While I’m only showing off three card designs in this post, the completed box is sized to hold six 4 bar-sized notecards and envelopes (that’s 3-1/2″ x 4-7/8″ or 8.9 cm x 12.4 cm). What’s really ingenious about the die set is that you use one die for both the bottom of the box and the lid! That’s because you also cut some paper corners for assembling the top, and therefore ensure a perfect fit! If that sounds confusing, Lawn Fawn has a video demonstrating how to use the set, and it’s really much simpler than it sounds.

I stamped Flowering Santa onto some grey cardstock, and colored him in with that same color palette. Of course, I needed some more sparkle, so I sprayed the whole thing with some shimmer spray, as well as stenciled on shiny aqua embellishment mousse around my Santa.  I also added some glittery Nuvo drops to the flower centers, and a glittery heat-embossed “Merry” sentiment.  Then I assembled the box lid and bottom, and packed it with the note cards.

This was a fun project to put together.  You can go as simple or as all-out as you want for decorating and coloring, and customize the contents for any recipient.

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Peep-in-chief is Getting Hitched!

I’m so excited to be share the news: Marcella Hawley -creatrix of Power Poppy Stamps– is getting married to her beau Doug tomorrow!  The design team thought it would be fun to have a blog hop to wish her great happiness on her special day, as well as for future bliss together.

Marcella loves her gardens around her home: she affectionately calls them her “terrarium.” So there definitely needed to be plenty of blooms in what I made for the occasion.  As inspiration, I thought of a perfect late-summer day: sunny, gold-tinged skies and richly-colored foliage and flowers. The Power Poppy digital stamp Luminous Bouquet came to mind, so I printed that off and got to creating.

I ended up making two things! A sweet little keepsake box and a gilt-edged card.

For the box, I colored up that beautiful bouquet with colored pencils on kraft-colored cardstock, and then die-cut the image with Lawn Fawn’s Fancy Box die. I thought this made a perfectly-sized little token that could be used to hold a few dried petals from the bride’s bouquet or groom’s boutonnière, or maybe a few beads or bit of lace that got snagged during all of the merry making.  I lined the interior of the box with some thin aqua paper. Before I assembled the box, I heat-embossed the wedding date with gold on the inside of the lid.

Once the box was put together, I added a little more shine by swiping all of the edges with a gold-leafing pen.

The card has a border of bright gilding flakes, reminiscent of the rings exchanged during the wedding vows. The bouquet is colored with the same bright colors, and accented with some gold stenciling, and everything is glowy against the kraft; just like I imagine Marcella and Doug will be glowing on their special day.

I’ll be sending these paper crafts along to the couple, as soon as I finish this blog post! I had so much fun creating for the lady who makes such beautiful designs for us. Congratulations to Marcella and Doug, and to their family. Please take and share millions of photos!

Marriage is an amazing adventure,
even when you already 
know each other by heart…
Best wishes for all you have yet
to discover together!

Be sure to stop and see what lovely things the rest of the design team has crafted and penned to wish the Newlyweds-to-be the best wedding ever!  If you’d love to leave Marcy and Doug a special message, please leave that on the Power Poppy Blog – I know they will read each and every one of them!
Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker
Jennifer Dove
Broni Holcombe
Cheryl Scrivens
Barb Walker
Nancy Sheads
Jessie Banks

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Delicate Die-cut Wedding Lanterns

Because I love my Mother-in-law very much (she is a really great lady), I offered to make 50 paper lanterns for her wedding this past May.  I knew she was going for a “festive and handmade” look, and I had spied this gorgeous and delicate die from Taylored Expressions a few months back.

Since the design had a frame surrounding it, I thought it would be perfect for creating something three-dimensional.

You might be wondering how I went from die to lantern…Well, I had previously made some striking Halloween lanterns (here is my version), from directions found here. I figured I could apply the same idea to make table decorations in royal blue and white, my Mother-in-law’s wedding colors.

So once the bride-to-be had told me the number of tables at the reception (25), and the number of lanterns she wanted per table (two), I realized that 50 lanterns would mean making 150 panels! Of a very intricate die-cut, on card stock substantial enough to hold its structure.  Oh boy!

Mini Easter Bunny Boxes

I was inspired by an amazing diorama on Kittie Kraft to make these sweet little treats for Easter. As I was mass-producing and mailing these, I made my scenes a little simpler but you can go as detailed as you like.

I die-cut a small gable box as my base (specifically the Sizzix Carry-all Bigz XL, but Papertrey Ink, Clear & Simple Stamps and I sure other companies have similar dies), but the Treat Bag or the Candy Box from Lawn Fawn would look totally cute decorated in this way as well.

I cut out and assembled my boxes before decorating, using different pastel shades of 12 x 12″ Bazzil paper. I found that Sookwang tape (aka Scor-Tape) was the best adhesive for assembling these boxes: no mess and holds tight!

Next, I got to die cutting: bunnies, grass, flowers, eggs, butterflies and birds.  I used dies from Impression Obsession, Lawn Fawn, and a tiny EK success punch for the eggs.

Glitter paper made for sparkly chocolate bunnies. Patterened paper became already-decorated easter eggs.

I glued the components of each scene onto the sides of the boxes, and trimmed any overhanging grass or leaves.  I found that Glossy Accents held well, and even the tiny flowers stayed on through the mail. For tiny pieces, I applied the glue with a toothpick.

The large tags were cut from the Lawn Fawn Tag You’re It die, and attached with vintage seam binding. The stamp is from my LSS Paper Tales.

Dies Used:
Impression Obsession: Rabbit set, Stems & leaves, Tiny flowers, Small bird set, Butterfly set, Grass border, Hollyhocks, Tall grass
Lawn Fawn: Grassy border

Shaker Valentines with My Favorite Things

I made a bunch of shaker-card valentines, using a new die from My Favorite Things. As soon as I saw Love Centerpieces from MFT, I knew that I had to have it, and that I wanted to dig out my stash of sequins and make some fun cards. Usually, when I make shaker cards, I use foam tape for the center layer.  This time, I tried something new by running the die through with some fun foam, and then used scissors to expand the spaces a bit for more bling room. This let me keep each letter separated, without having to build structure with foam tape. I just used Scrappy Glue to adhere the layers together. I wandered through my local paper crafting store to find patterned paper that would coordinate with the different solid colors I chose. I have quite an accumulation of sequins from Doodle Bug, Papertrey Ink, Lawn Fawn, but I have to give a shout out to the Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear sequins. They add such a nice silvery shimmer, without being too distracting, especially if you have other colors in your mix! Here’s what the back of the cards look like: FYI: I made custom square envelopes for these cards (5″ a side), which meant extra USPS First Class postage ($0.70 to $0.91). I’ve pinned a reference sheet on First Class Postage here, but I have had good luck using two “Forever” stamps for my shaker cards and/or square envelopes. Supplies not mentioned in the post:

Solid Paper: Paper Source and Bazzill

Patterned Paper: Doodlebug, Authentique, Crate Paper

Clear Plastic: Dura-Lar .005

What are you making for Valentines Day?

Camelia Tags and a Gift Bag

I’m back with some more tags. Previously, the Power Poppy blog has inspired me to deconstruct those gorgeous floral images, and it may be my favorite twist on the usual stamped and colored card.  This time, I printed and colored the Camellias digi stamp.  I was experimenting with shading some acid green leaves, and the finished image turned out *really* vivid!

I decided that maybe the flowers would be most effective in small doses, so I die cut a slew of tags. I backed all of them with lavender card stock, and then stamped and heat-embossed small sentiments on each. Several of the Power Poppy stamp sets have a perfect, tiny “For You” that’s just perfect for a gift tag.

My newly-crafted tags inspired me to make this little gift bag for my friend Dani, who gifted me a couple of ink pads.

I cut the bag pieces from card stock that is a much brighter light green in real life! Then I die cut a butterfly, outlined the shape with stickles, added some acetate for backing, and assembled the bag.

I filled it with some Speculoos-filled chocolate cups from Trader Joes, and tied the top with some lavender seam binding.  I tied my tags together with twine and then attached them to the bag. I think it looks very springy!

 

Supplies:

Power Poppy Camellias digital stamp
Copic Markers
Avery Elle tag die: Simply Tags
Simon Says Stamp tag die: Tiny Tags
Lawn Fawn Treat Bag die
Hero Arts butterfly die: Antique Butterflies & Flowers Framelits
Paper Source Lavender card stock and twine

Festive Thanksgiving Treat Bags

It seems like I just finished making Halloween candy boxes, and now I’m making these darling little treat bags for my in-laws’ Thanksgiving open house.  They’re relatively simple to make: just a couple of dies, patterned paper and some foiled Dresden turkeys. And hot glue – can’t forget the hot glue!

I chose double-sided paper from Basic Grey’s Persimmon collection.  This might be my very favorite autumnal collection of papers, as I find navy and orange to be such a sharp color combination, and I love that the prints range from vintage flowers, to bold stripes and tribal designs.

I happily mixed and matched patterns, and really like that the design of the die allows for a glimpse of the inside paper pattern at the top of the bag.

I’m using the Deco Bag Dies by Paper Smooches for my base. I recommend using Scor-tape to hold it together, as you’ll want a strong adhesive.  Be sure to line up the edges of the bags carefully, because the die is designed to make a slightly roomier shape than a flat pocket.

The medallions are cut from the Sizzix Brenda Walton Medallions Decorative Strip Die  and the Sizzix Mini Paper Rosettes die. If you choose to use the lacier Brenda Walton medallion, don’t bother punching out all of the little holes.  Just start folding along the score lines and most (if not all) of the little bits should fall right out.  You’ll need hot glue to assemble the rosettes, and you can adjust the size depending on how tight you make the centers.

I found my foiled turkeys on etsy, but blumchen.com is a great source for all sorts of Dresden trims and shapes.  The turkeys were hot glued to the medallions and then the medallions were hot glued to the bags. Each bag will hold one Ghiradelli square, my favorite kind of treat!

Instead of turkeys, you can die-cut label shapes for the center of the medallions to create fun place cards.  I bet gold heat-embossed leaf or feather designs would look wonderful too.