Accordion Cocoa Holder with Candy Cane Holder

I was asked to create a cocoa packet holder after I made a tea accordion holder.  This is what I came up with.

I must say, I really like the versatility of the September Stamp of the Month!  Fun sayings and supporting pictures.  : )

Just Treats - September Stamp of the Month S1809

This is my finished project.  It is held closed by hook and loop dots (Z1805).  You could punch some holes and tie ribbon/twine if you'd like too (the cocoa packet goes up pretty high).

The pattern of the front was taken from Make it From Your Heart Volume 4 (9044).  Pattern 16 on page 36.  I just elongated the background piece to span the whole side (5.25")

These are the pieces necessary to put this together, minus the front.

The candy cane holder and the sides are scored every 1/2".  The holder is folded as shown.  The two higher upward facing pieces get adhered at an angle to one of the dividers (you can see the cane peeking out in the above picture).

Accordion fold the sides. Position them across from each other so that the folds mirror each other (I had the farthest fold from me mountain facing inward while the closest fold was a valley fold outward). The important thing is that the two sides are mirror images of each other.

Glue the dividers to one side, being consistent with where you glue. Also, try your best to have the bottoms of the dividers match one another. Go back and glue the other side onto the dividers.

Decorate the front of the outside piece with all of the flat items. My mints and candy cane are raised so I waited to add those until I was done.

Glue the accordion sides to the front and the back of the outside shell. I’d suggest one corner at a time. They should fit inside the shell. If not, you can just trim the excess after the glue dries, or bring the sides in a little bit.

An alternative for this is putting three cocoa packets in instead of the candy cane and marshmallows.

For this project, I used Candy Apple (X5992), White Daisy (X6027), and Fern (X6003) cardstock; 'tis the Season paper packet (X7239B); Just Treats SOTM (S1809); Candy Apple (Z6509) and Black ink(Z2805), and Carmine marker (Z2448).

The stamp set is only available until the end of the month - September 30, 2018, so don't delay!!

October 2018 Workshop - Wall Art Part 1

When you come to the October's Workshop, you'll make the Autumn and Winter wall art displays.  Early next year, you'll make Spring and Summer (all four are pictured below).  Thank you, Holly Valerius for the inspiration!

Each 10" x 10" canvas sports a different painting effect as the base.  We'll start with those, and while the paint dries, you'll put together the layers above.




















Cost is $20 to make these two.  Workshop dates are:

Monday Oct. 8th
Thursday Oct.11th

7 to 9 pm at my house.

Sign up deadline - September 29th

Can't make the workshop and are willing to make this on your own?  I'll be happy to send you the cut file for Design Space after a $20 (pre-tax) purchase from my website.






(For those who saw my samples, those are on a 6" x 6" canvas)

Katie's Graduation Gift

The thing about playing on a high school sport's team is that each year players graduate.  It's kind of sad, really.  You get to know and like a girl(s) and then they leave.  Not quite right because my daughter stays and gets to know the girls staying that much more.  It gets harder every year.

Anyyywayy, Katie invited Lindsey to her graduation party this year.  Lindsey wanted to give her a gift that was small and something Katie could use in college.  A photo holder.

During the talking phase, the plan was to get some twine and some photo mats.  Put the mats on the twine.  It's portable and small.  Problem - how to adhere the ends to the wall in a dorm without it looking tacky.  We pushed forward.

You've seen those ribbon photo boards, right?  How about something like that?  Lindsey does a little research.  They are at least $30 and rather large.  Lindsey wants something smaller for Katie, but likes the idea.  How about making our own?!

I have a couple of 12" x 12" frames.  I have cork board on a roll.  I have batting.  Grey fabric is purchased.  We don't even need a quarter of a yard.  Then ribbon to match.  We'll figure out what to put over the ribbon crossings afterward.

We use the mat that comes with the frame as our board.  The cork board is rolled out and cut, then stuck down onto the mat.  Batting goes on top of that.  The fabric is ironed and then stapled to the back of the mat.  At first we used the staple gun, but the staples were too long.  We were happily surprised when the regular stapler goes through all of the layers!

Next, the ribbon was laid out on the board.  3" apart (that's my girl!), and taped to the back of the board.  It was later glued with Liquid Glass.  Liquid Glass went behind the ribbon and attached to the fabric.  We needed to cover the intersections...

I have some old grey buttons - being a hoarder sometimes comes in handy!  Of course we don't have enough of the same button to cover the entire area, so Lindsey comes up with a pattern that works.  We find DMC floss that matches well, and then Lindsey sews through the layers to keep the buttons in place.

Everything gets into the frame and is closed up.  Lindsey prints a picture of Katie's dog and of the two girls.  She wraps the gift with love and has a great time at the party.

Katie will be missed next year.  She added much leadership and is a gosh darn good runner.  Much luck at Chico State, Katie!

We better start thinking of gift ideas for the several girls who are graduating next year...

Stampaganza 2018 starts July 1st!

It's that time of year again!  For every two stamp sets you buy, you'll get a third stamp set free!*  And the solo stamp sets are making a limited-time appearance (just this month)!

You can host a gathering and earn free stamp sets too!

Or become a consultant and get some free stamp sets!








LOTS of choices!

Purchase any of the Solo stamp sets as part of Stampaganza in July for $9.95!  These aren't found in the Annual Inspirations book or the Seasonal Expressions book.

B1225 Solos “a”
B1226 Solos “b”
B1227 Solos “c”
B1228 Solos “d”
B1229 Solos “e”
B1230 Solos “f”
B1231 Solos “g”
B1232 Solos “h”
B1233 Solos “i”
B1234 Solos “j”
B1235 Solos “k”
B1236 Solos “l”
B1237 Solos “m”
B1238 Solos “n”
B1239 Solos “o”
B1240 Solos “p”
B1241 Solos “q”
B1242 Solos “r”
B1243 Solos “s”
B1244 Solos “t”
B1245 Solos “u”
B1246 Solos “v”
B1247 Solos “w”
B1248 Solos “x”
B1249 Solos “y”
B1250 Solos “z”

B1286 Solos “1”
B1287 Solos “2”
B1288 Solos “3”
B1289 Solos “4”
B1290 Solos “5”
B1291 Solos “6”
B1292 Solos “7”
B1293 Solos “8”
B1294 Solos “9”
B1295 Solos “0”

Purchase Solos stamp sets in a bundle for a discount!

CC7181 Alphabet Solos Bundle $258.70 now $159.20
CC7182 Numbers Solos Bundle $99.50 for only $59.70

* there are always exceptions and clarifications.

Exceptions (these won't count toward your purchase of two, nor toward a free set):

• Stamp sets included in Cricut® collections
• W stamp sets
• Operation Smile™ stamp sets
• Stamp of the Month stamp sets
• Hostess Rewards stamp sets
• Stamp + Thin Cuts bundles
• Alphabet Solos bundle (CC7181) or Numbers Solos bundle (CC7182)

Clarifications:

• The lowest priced stamp set will be the one that's free.  If you purchase, let's say, four stamp sets, you'll get two stamp sets free - the two lowest priced.
• You still get to pay the shipping and taxes on the free set : (

Eclipse Birthday Card

I've see these cards on Pinterest and Facebook.  Well, I finally made time to make one!  This was for my Cardaholics group with the challenge of a birthday card.  I was inspired by the colors of Central Park paper packet.

I used our Thin Cuts - Block Alphabet (Z3386) for this.  I thought about using the Cricut, but decided it would be more accurate making them the "slower" way.  Even though it might sound like it took a long time, it wasn't really that bad.  Let me explain how I made my card...

The scene is on 3.5" x 4.75" and is backed by Pacifica cardstock (X5968) that measures 3.75" x 5".  First, create 2 masks of the balloon.  The balloon came from the stamp set accompanying the Art Philosophy Cricut Collection, but any balloon will do.  Why create two?  Well, because you'll want to cover two balloons at once to create the pattern.

I stamped all of the Glacier (Z2841) balloons first.  The I masked those (one at a time) to stamped the Poppy (Z2852) balloons.  I stamped one on scrap White Daisy cardstock too.  Then, I masked both of those colored balloons to stamp the Willow (Z2807) ones.  Looking at the "W" is a great example why you need two masks.  Finally, I stamped the Lemon (Z2808) balloons.  I tried not overlapping that one but did to go between the two Willow balloons (again 2 masks).

Next, I added the balloon strings.  I had to put the mask back on a few times.  And I added a string to my scrap balloon.

My Cuttlebug came out after the last step.  I laid "WISH" out and when I was happy, I added painters tape to the letters with overlapping tape.  NOTE: you'll want to have clearance on the top and the bottom of the Thin Cuts to poke the letters out.  If your painter's tape is wide, cut it down.  I didn't want them to separate and have to build the word each time.  I've since learned that  if you have Cling Wrap plastic wrap - the one that's sticky on one side - that could be used instead of the painter's tape.  It's probably better too, since you can see through it.

Position the "WISH" onto the stamped paper securing it in place with the overlapping tape.  Run through the machine and poke out your letters.  NOTE: if you are making more than one of these cards, make sure your word stays with it's matching background!

Once the letters are cut, they're ready to have 3D foam tape (Z1151) added to the back.  I used the regular height for this (and the balloon).  The stamped part was adhered to the Pacifica cardstock which, in turn, was adhered to a card base.  Then "A BIRTHDAY" was stamped so it could be lined up with the edge of the "W" in Pacifica (Z2892) ink.  The letters were put back in their respective hole.  The balloon received the thin 3D foam dots (Z3341)on the balloon, but the end of the balloon was adhered to the card using Bonding Memory Glue (Z553).  The final step was adding the Central Park Sequins (Z4178).

Done!  My take of the Eclipse card.  : )

July 2018 Workshop - Birthday Cards Utilizing Birthday Cheer PML Cards

July's workshop is here! You can never have enough birthday cards.  This crop is going to work for all types of birthdays.  Again we'll be utilizing our Picture My Life cards for greeting cards instead of scrapbooking.  And we'll only have to stamp three sayings.

Workshop dates are Thursday July 19th and Monday July 23rd from 7 to 9 pm.  Cost is $20 which will get you everything to make the 10 cards pictured above with envelopes.  Please RSVP to me by Sunday July 1st.

Sweet 16 Thank You Cards

Lindsey, and I hope the girls, had a great time at the party!  And every good hostess sends thank you cards.

Keeping with Chelsea Garden's paper, here is the thank you card.  I was inspired by the "A Million thank-yous" card found in the Annual Inspirations idea book on page 37.

I changed out the saying (I don't have the one pictured) to one that's been retired for I don't know how many years.  Lindsey sprayed the upper part of the card with diluted Crystal Blue using our Spray Pen (Z1380).  Unfortunately, I think I diluted Crystal Blue too much because you can't see the color it adds that much (especially in the picture - it's the darker area in the upper part of the card).  I also think she was spraying the cards really close so the drip part was lost.

Still, I like how it turned out!

The longer banner is 5" x 1.5".  The shorter banner is 4.5" x 1".  The Whisper Thick Twine is 5" long with a knot in it.  Liquid Glass was used to adhere it to the card.  The extra was trimmed.

Lindsey took several hours writing her thank yous.  It's really sweet to think about what she wrote to each girl.  I'm one lucky parent!!