It's About Time!

Thanks for joining me today! I treated myself to a few goodies from The Stamp Market for Easter and I finally took some time to use them! I wasn't feeling particularly creative and the reason why I bought the supplies in the first place was because of the darling samples, so I just decided to CASE one of the samples! ha ha! I chose a different color combo for my card and got to work. That being said, once I made this card, the creative juices started flowing and I can't wait to use it again with some of the other sentiments for other types of occasions.

I'm an 80s gal so Swatch watches were all the rage so it was fun to create these paper versions. To begin, I used the Watch Band Dies and cut all of the bands from Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush, White, and Enchanted Evening cardstock. I cut multiples so I would have both sides of the watch. There are two different sizes of circular watch faces and the square one.

Even though I'm not good at shaker cards, I felt confident I could make the shaker watch face, which is just so cute! Sometimes I have difficulty using acetate with dies, but I used the Clear Cardstock from Papertrey Ink and it worked great!

I used the Time To Say Stamp Set for the watch faces and the "it's your day" sentiment. There are quite a few other sentiments for different occasions, which I can't wait to use!

I used Antique Gold cardstock for the watch hands and the brackets at the top of the first watch. I was the manager of the watch department (among other departments) when I was first married, so this brought back fond memories of that time! (no pun intended)

I used silver glitter cardstock for the frames around the watch faces and glued them over the top using liquid glue. Each of the watch faces and bands are added to the card using foam squares. This will be a fun one to add to the stash! Thanks for fluttering by!

 

Handmade Hodgepodge {a little of this and a little of that}

Hello again! I got a Facebook notification that it was my friend's birthday today, and not tomorrow like I thought! Ack! This isn't a post I would normally share, but since I had talked about making caramels and such for May Day, I decided to share a few of the things I worked on today for the birthday gift! I plan on making more of the flower embellishments for paper cones and tags for May Day as well. I made 2 of everything because it also happens to be another friend's birthday as well.

I bought the Small Peony Die from The Stamp Market (and the large) when they were first released but this is the first time I have used them! They are so much fun to make and I can't wait to add them to projects in the future! I learned a few tricks while assembling these that I will share with you. I die cut 2 of the largest petals and 2 of the smaller petals, 1 center and one leaf for each flower. I used Blush cardstock and then added some Coral inkblending around the edges for some contrast. My photos aren't great today because the sun was hidden for most of the day! It came out this evening just in time for me to make my deliveries! Tip #1: Hold the petals with the ink blended side facing the table and use a pencil, or in my case, the quilling tool, to gently wrap the petals around it to achieve the curved edges. I find that it is easier for me to make the curve with the petals going in a downward motion.

I used my quilling tool to create the center portion. Tip #2: Wrap it with the "wrong" side (or side that was on the bottom during the die cutting process) on the outside. Once you fluff out the center, you will want the nicer side to show. I tried it with the nice side out, but then then the ugly side showed when I fluffed it. Hopefully that makes sense. Maybe your die machine doesn't make the back look less appealing than the front! LOL! I used a dab of liquid glue to secure the roll together.

Once that is all done, it is time to assemble the flowers. I just used a small dab of liquid glue to the center of each piece and stacked them, alternating position as I went. The center has a nice amount of glue and is just stuck right in the center. The leaf is also attached with liquid glue. I also added some sentiment strips using the Just Sentiments: Belated Birthday stamp set and the Simply Sentiments I stamp set to give them a little something extra. I spritzed them with Shimmer Spray; I usually do this after I take photos, but I didn't and that's why the black strips have a grainy appearance.

Once again, bad photos with lots of shadows, but I snapped these right before I packaged the gift up! Hopefully you can get the gist! I filled the Frosted Tin Tie bags with the homemade wrapped caramels and attached the flowers with foam squares.

Each of the two gifts included some handmade earrings. I know I've shared quite a few of these recently, but I figured I'd show these, too! These would be sweet additions to May Day baskets or cones as well! This pair was made using the Designer Dangles Pinch Me die set. These are some of my favorites to make and I have gotten the hang of how to thread the jump rings quickly and neatly! For this pair I used the Trendy Colorful Craft Leather and the Metallic Basics leather.

I made quite a few pairs of spring earrings that you can see HERE. These were made today, but are just like the ones that I shared in that post if you are interested in details, including the earring display card.

I made 2 key wristlets because I like them, I have everything on hand, and they are so fun to make! LOL! They are the perfect little gift to give to friends and families. I haven't been inside a store for I don't know how long, so the handmade gifts are working for me!

I recently purchased a new hardware set for the wristlets. It has three different types of metal: silver, this burnished gold, and an oil rubbed bronze looking one. It also came with some amazing pliers with rubber tips so that it doesn't mess up the metal when you clamp them shut! This was the first time I used it and it is so awesome!

I used one of my hoarded "P.S. I love you" tags that I only use when I absolutely HAVE to! LOL! I think it's the perfect addition to the backside of the wristlet! I hope today's post has given you a few ideas of some handmade gifts to make! I sure had fun, even though it was last minute! I'll be back again on the 25th for this month's installment of the Keeping Christmas Blog Hop! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. For the birthday cards, I used THESE and added the "Birthday Wishes" sentiment like I used on the flowers across the "BEAUTIFUL" sentiment to make them work for this occasion!

Keeping Christmas {Merry Mail}

Hello and welcome to the FIRST Keeping Christmas Blog Hop of 2020!  We've got some fabulous new designers on the blog roll this year, so you'll definitely want to head to each of their blogs to see what they've created for today's hop! If you're new here and don't know what "Keeping Christmas" is, well, let me explain! This is actually the beginning of my 4th year of Keeping Christmas and the 2nd year of it being part of the blog hop! I started this series as a way to get my Christmas projects done throughout the year, rather than a mad dash during the holidays! It is so much fun because I get to use all of my Christmas stamps, papers, and supplies all year long! So...without further adieu...here are the links to the other designers' blogs and I will dive into the details of my 2 projects I've made for today's hop!

Kelly Lunceford (Creator)

 Vicki Finger

 Claire Broadwater

 Lori Tecler

 Nance Salkeld

 Nina Forsyth

 Nancy Guse

 Marybeth Lopez

 Nancy Penir

 Carol Hintermeier

I've gone with a postal theme for today's projects because I've been dying to use the Mailbox Gift Holder Die that I got during this last Christmas season and didn't get a chance to use it! I also bought the coordinating stamp set, but didn't choose to use it for today's projects since I was going for a more vintage feel!

I created 3 mailbox gift card holders and 6 "Letters to Santa" gift tags for today using the same mix of papers, which were a gift from my sister so I'm not sure of the manufacturer. 

Let's talk about the tags first; these are actually a slightly different variation of a tag that I made a few years ago, but I used the LAST one this past Christmas and they were a favorite of mine!  I also purchased these cute Santa die cuts during this past holiday season and tucked them away since I didn't have time to use them! They are the perfect addition to these tags!

To begin these tags, I used my favorite envelope template from Martha By Mail that I got in the early 2000's. It's kind of crazy to think it is 20 years old, but that is the reality, isn't it? Anyway, I traced the envelopes 3 times each; twice for the tags, and once for the mailbox out of each of the three pattern papers. Once that was done, I hand cut them and folded them making sure to crease the edges with my bone folder.

The only adhesive I used to secure them is one foam square under the flap. I also used an additional foam square to add to the North Pole "seal". All of the stamped images are from one of my most favorite stamp sets; Santa Stationery. It has been a favorite for years and makes an appearance every year!

I heat embossed 6 of the seals in silver onto black cardstock and stamped 3 of the seals in Pure Poppy ink onto cream cardstock. I used a 1 inch circle punch to punch them out. I also heat embossed the "official letter to Santa" and the "please send to the North Pole" sentiments in silver onto the flap of the envelopes.

I stamped the checklist portion of the tag onto cream cardstock as well but noticed when I was finished with the tags that I used the wrong stamp; I wanted them to say "You've been" rather than "I've been" ! I was so bugged but had already added the holly berry embellishment using hot glue AND the red eyelets and twine! Ugh! Oh well! The mailboxes have the right sentiment, so there's that! LOL! The finishing touch is the addition of the Santa die cuts using additonal foam squares!

I got the sentiment right on these, though! Ha ha! Each mailbox is die cut twice out of the same pattern paper that I used on the tags. Wouldn't a plaid mailbox like this be so cute out on the street? LOL!

The letters are created  the same way that I did for the tags, but I omitted the Santa die cut. I also added a bow embellishment that my sister gave me last holiday season as well, and once again, I didn't have time to use them! That's why I love Keeping Christmas so much because I have time all year long!

You can see the beautiful silver detail on the pattern paper and that was the reason why I chose to use silver embossing powder. For my last set of tags, I used gold so it was nice to switch things up!

I had so much fun working on today's projects and I can't wait to pull them out in December! I store all of my projects throughout the year in my storage room under the stairs. I put the 3D items in boxes and store the cards in plastic totes. For those of you who visit regularly, you might remember the flood I had a few years ago that damaged a lot of my stash. So...I really should be better about keeping it ALL in plastic totes, but I don't! LOL!  Thanks for fluttering by!