Okay, it’s actually boxed moose but who ever heard of that?

WARNING – I don’t think my Aunt reads my blog but if she does and she’s reading right now, please come back after December 25th as one of your gifts is in this post.

Is she gone?

Good…

So, I needed to make an ornament for my aunt even though there is a handmade item in her Christmas gift this year as I make her something for the tree just about every Christmas.

I didn’t really have anything new to whip up this year so I had to come up with an idea from scratch.

I decided to make a felt ornament but didn’t know exactly what I could do that I hadn’t done before.  I finally went with something pertaining to life in Newfoundland so I made a moose ornament. (you could just as easily say it’s a reindeer – when you make them from felt they don’t really look that different)

Here’s the little guy I came up with:

Of course, I had to make a cute package to put him in so I quickly whipped this up:

…and here’s what the little guy looks like on MY tree (though he didn’t get to stay there…why don’t I ever make ornaments for myself?)

NOTE: If you want to try your hand at felt ornaments, it’s pretty easy.  I just drew on some paper until I got the right shape/scale that I wanted and then glued the shape to some cardboard that I cut out for tracing.  I then googled how to blanket stitch and found a helpful tutorial.  I kind of garbled up the antlers but I think it’s pretty good for a first attempt!

I’ve been working on some Christmas gifts lately – making lists, gathering the supplies I need for the handmade items that I’ll be giving and just generally trying to ensure I’ve got the logistics worked out in plenty of time to make this year a little easier.

One of the items I’ve been making is crocheted dishcloths.  It might not sound very exciting but if you’ve used a knitted or crocheted cotton dishcloth you know they are way nicer than those thin, store-bought cloths.

My aunt is getting a set of 4 in colours that match her kitchen but I’ve made a few extras for people that I just need a “little something” for.

Christmas aside, a co-worker just showed me pictures of her newly painted kitchen and some of the cloths I’ve made match the paint colour pretty closely so I decided to give her one “just because”.

I wanted to wrap it up somehow for presentation but wasn’t sure what to do so I went into my craft room last night to see what I could come up with.  I remembered that I’d bought some little gable boxes on clearance a couple of years ago at Michael’s thinking they’d be great for something or other but they’re pink which doesn’t really speak to me creatively.

Luckily, my co-worker loves pink and even luckier still, a dishcloth fits perfectly inside the box!

 I made a quick matching tag and I think this will really brighten her day when she sees it on her desk in the morning!  I know it’s only a dishcloth but who doesn’t like a surprise?

The tag was made using a PTI tag that I cut the bottom inch off of as it was not the right scale for the box.  I added a scalloped scrap of patterned paper, the word “friend” from my new Paper Smooches sentiment set (love ‘em!) and a die cut heart.  A girly bow with a button is adhered to the top of the box with a glue dot.  Simple, cute, fun.  And now I know how I’ll be packaging my other dishcloths come Christmas time!

I had a project or two that couldn’t be shared in December as they were gifts for people who (to the best of my knowledge) sometimes read my blog.

One project in particular was a gift for my friend Karen who sometimes spends an afternoon in my craft room.  I don’t have many friends who do any sort of paper crafting so it’s always a treat to spend a few hours with someone who understands the joy of patterned paper and rubber stamps.

This is one of the wooden frame projects I made a little while back.  I used a stamp set I borrowed from Karen and glittered the entire front of the stamped area (idea from Anna Wight) but found that the glitter muted the images too much so I rubbed it off the three stamped areas.  When I gave her the gift (there were additonal, purchased items in the gift bag but I’m only blogging the handmade items) I told her there was a story behind her Christmas card and that she’d have to wait for it to be shared on my blog.  It’s not an exciting story but it’s something that a paper crafter can related to.

Originally, I’d earmarked one of my many gingerbread cards as Karen’s Christmas card but I underestimated the number of cards I needed over the holidays and “borrowed” her card to give to another friend that unexpectedly dropped by.  On Boxing Day, I had a little downtime in the afternoon (plus some new Paper Smooches Christmas stamps) and decided to make her new card using scraps of Christmas paper and the new stamp set since it was the only chance I would have to use it until the 2012 Christmas season.  Here’s the card:

The scraps used on this card were left over from some notepads that I made prior to Christmas.  As the paper was a little bit too narrow for an A2 card, I ransacked my envelope drawer and found a square envelope that was the right size to make a 4.25×4.25″ card.  Sadly, I dropped the inked acrylic block right onto the envelope after I stamped the image onto cardstock.  Here’s what it looked like:

This created a bit of a dilemma.  I don’t make square cards often as the envelopes are hard to come by in Newfoundland (I have to order them online and shipping is prohibitive) so when tragedy struck, some extra creativity was called for.  There was no way I was tossing one of the very few square envelopes I had in this size so I created a panel to cover the ink:

(excuse the holly – it’s hand-drawn and I don’t claim to be an artist!)

So, that’s the story behind Karen’s Christmas card except for one more funny thing that happened.  After she visitied, I went into my craft room to put away the nestabilities she gave me for Christmas (!) and decided to tidy up a little.  While sorting through some cardstock, I found the sentiment I printed and signed that was supposed to be adhered to the inside of her card so her card was actually blank when she opened it!  God love her, she didn’t say a word. (I later read the sentiment out to her over the phone)

I think it will be a long time before I forget the case of the cursed Christmas card!

…a Merry Little Christmas.

Still up to my eyebrows in glitter, white craft ink and assorted patterned paper fuzzies.

I took a couple of days off from crafting to give some painted frames and glittered ornaments a chance to dry on my work surface.  I did get a bit of a shock when I returned to my room after a 3 day absence to see the amazing mess I left behind as well!

On Friday, DH and I went Christmas shopping and I managed to get all the gifts I need that are to be mailed out.  I wanted to send a little handmade gift along with what I bought for one recipient and I thought one of my framed projects would be the best option.

The image is from CTMH (borrowed from a friend) and I painstakingly coloured it with white craft ink and then stamped over it a second time so the black outlines would be a little more prominent.   I actually messed this up the first time so I had to start over with a new image. (my stampamajig shifted the tiniest bit and made the image blurry)

Once I’d finished re-stamping the outline, I finished the colouring using prismacolour pencils and OMS.  I wanted a soft, vintage feel to the image and I feel I have the most control over my colouring when I use pencils.

To showcase the image, I used a gorgeous piece of Bo Bunny paper that I bought last Christmas but didn’t get to use in my projects.  I’m so glad I still had it!

The sentiment is an Anna Wight (Whipper Snapper) stamp and I kept the embellishments to a minimum so the paper and the coloured image could speak for themselves.

I made the jingle bell by using white embossing powder on a gold bell and dusting some glitter over it with mono multi glue.

I hope she likes it!

After making my first frame (see post here), I thought I could be a little more creative with the embellishments but needed to find the right image for the centre before I pulled all the elements together.

The gingerbread man from PTI’s Holiday Button Bits was the perfect scale for the project so I quickly stamped him on some natural cardstock, added some buttons (of course!) and found the perfect patterned paper in my stash to decorate the frame.

I used lots of distress ink on the edges of the paper and couldn’t resist the call of this cute gingham ribbon – which I tied in a triple bow using my Bow-Easy.  I’m really pleased with this particular frame.  Now the pressure is on for my third attempt! (which will be done at a later date as I’m currently prepping some glass ornaments and they need som drying time before I clear off my work surface).

I think I’ll make a matching notepad and beaded pen to go with this and see if Bath and Bodyworks (which just opened up yesterday in St. John’s – no more on line ordering!) has any gingerbread scented products to round out this little gift.  I know just who to give this to!

Plodding along with the holiday gifts – I am not making quite as much progress as I’d like (mojo is not always with me these days) but I do have a good start on things and I am not at mid-November yet so everything is currently under control!

I bought a few wooden frames at Michael’s a few months ago in hopes that I could make some cute gifts with them.  The image area on the frames is only 3.5X3.5″ so it’s not too intimidating to find a way to fill the space.  I used a JustRite image that I bought a couple of years ago and never inked up before to make my first frame.  Originally, I used white craft ink but it didn’t pop enough on the red cardstock for me so I switched over to white embossing powder and got a much more visible image:

The frames are on quite an angle so it was difficult to take a picture in good lighting (I’m really only set up for cards – if something is too tall, my lights don’t reach high enough to light up the entire project).

Once the frame was painted (I used an off-white paint called “Tapioca” from Folk Art), the project worked up super-quickly.  I traced the patterned paper, cut it out, glued it with mono multi (still can’t get Zip Dry to work worth a darn) and sanded the edges flush with the frame.  The jingle bells were painted and glittered and I used a glue gun to attach them to the frame.

This was my first attempt and I felt I could do better so I scrounged around my craft room and came up with another version…which I’ll share with you tomorrow. 

Do you remember me posting this a few weeks ago?

Well, the above supplies, plus some extra candy, ribbon, and buttons made a dozen of these:

…and I made a little card to go with them…

…and here’s what they look like all tucked up in an Easter basket:

I hope the people who make my morning coffee like them!

ETA: the contest is now closed.  Using random.org the result was number 6 – Diane!  Diane I’ll be contacting you shortly for your mailing address.  Thanks for playing everyone!

I know many of you are just as busy as I am these days – my life is insane right now.  In fact, I shouldn’t even be taking time to post on my blog but I promised blog candy so here we go…(well, I’ll babble for a minute or two and get to the blog candy at the end…it’s tradition!)

I’ve been busy making these (note: each bag already has an ornament packaged up inside and I still have a handful to make by Friday):

…and Christmas cards like this (using an adorable Anna Wight stamp):

but I have no time right now to describe what I’ve been doing or how I’ve done them or what I used to make them!

On to the blog candy…

A Happy Birthday Cuttlebug Folder (not in the package – I have two of these for some reason)

Making Memories “Charmed” Birthday themed charms

Studio G clear stamps (Christmas theme)

A DCWV Tin Album

A package of Heidi Swapp credit card slides

A package of Heidi Swapp butterfly tags

Assorted Prima and American Crafts flowers (mostly Primas)

I’ll mail anywhere so everyone is welcome to take a crack at the prize.

How do you win?  Leave a comment on this post telling me what Christmas project you’re working on (doesn’t have to be a craft – could be buying gifts or addressing envelopes) by Friday, December 17th and you’re entered to win.  I’ll do a random draw on Saturday the 18th.  Be sure to leave your email address and note that if you haven’t posted a comment before I’ll have to approve it so don’t panic if you don’t see your entry.  (sadly, I’ll be turning on the word verification for comments soon as I get too much spam)

I have so many things to share but no time to post them so don’t forget to check back!

I should seriously buy stock in Sears before posting this but here goes…

As you know, my sewing machine broke last week (bad Pixie) but what you might not know is that Singer didn’t even bother to respond to my email asking for assistance on reseating the bobbin so Singer is now dead to me.

My husband picked up the Kenmore 1/2 size sewing machine at Sears for me last night (on sale until August 2 for $59.99 – save $20) and I just took it out of the box…OMG, I think it’s a Janome Sew Mini.  Here’s my evidence:

The Janome Sew Mini:

The Kenmore 1/2 size:

The only difference is the brand name and the way they outline the stitch patterns (so, the only difference is the decals.)

As further proof, I found this on Overstock.com when looking for a shot of the Sew Mini:

http://www.overstock.com/Crafts-Sewing/Janome-Sew-Mini-Sewing-Machine/3654717/product.html

(it’s a picture of the Kenmore but there’s no Janome or Kenmore logo in the picture)

So, Canadians, I think you CAN get a Janome Sew Mini in Canada…that’s pretty cool.  I must go post this on SCS!

(I’ll try to come back later with a real project…if I can get the sewing machine set up – I actually stopped the card making to post this news.)

…with a PaperWorks Blog Hop.

Welcome to the July PaperWorks Blog Hop.  Today PWCO is launching their latest Rachelle Anne Miller stamp line and boy is it cute! (and RAM’s blog is worth scoping out too…check out her Etsy shop while you’re there – her illustrations are to die for.   There’s an adorable elephant I’d LOVE to have some day!  I {heart} elephants!)

If you are participating in the blog hop (and you should because there are PRIZES!) and you came from Cabio’s Blog then you are on the right track.   If you just started on this hop please start at the PWCO main blog.  I’ve got the listing of all participants a bit further down in today’s post.

I have LOTS to tell you/share with you today so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride…and don’t forget to leave a comment if you’d like a chance at winning the stamps featured during today’s hop.

I’m working with a sweet stamp called Side By Side.  First we’ll start with a picture of the stamp image:

Adorable, isn’t it?  I didn’t colour mine quite as nice as this (still working on the copic skills and need to add to my collection a little more) but I did use my copics and I also had a little fun altering the image.   The sentiment that comes with the stamp was the starting point for my card idea today.  It reads: 

Side by side or miles apart
dear friends are always close to the heart

Here’s the front panel of my card:

This is an accordion card and it has 5 panels in total.  It was a little hard to take a picture of the whole card so I’ve got some extra pictures to share today…next we have a little close up of the front plus some details on the supplies I used:

Basic Grey patterned paper, prism cardstock, copics, nesties, the flower was created from paper that I stamped and distressed and the ribbon rosette was made from wrinkle ribbon that I dyed a couple of weeks ago.  I used the same stamped paper to create the ruffled awning at the top of the card too.   (The ribbon ruffle on top and the ribbon that holds the card closed is wrinkle ribbon – you should try this technique!)   I used a stick pin to further embellish the flower and ran the sewing machine around the edges of the patterned paper before matting it with some green cardstock.

Panel 2 and 3:

I used the words “or miles apart” for this idea.  You’ll need your stamp-a-ma-jig for this and it’s a little tricky because the top of the swing set is not in a straight line…you can make your swing set as long as you’d like it to be…(get it?  my little guys are now spaced miles apart…well about 3 1/2 inches but you get the idea!)

The “extra” flower and grass was doodled by me.  More Basic Grey paper and some sponging give these panels a decorative touch (you don’t want to use anything too bulky as this card needs to fold up and these panels are on the inside).

Panel 4 and 5:

The next line in the sentiment reads “dear friends are always close to the heart”.  You can see that I altered the length of the image again – just join the end of the swing closer to the first seat and you’ve got a swing for one.  I cut out the bird and put it on a dimensional so my two little cuties are sharing a seat – can’t get much closer than that!  I drew in the bird’s legs.  Don’t look too closely unless you’re looking for a laugh!  I used a few pearls and some faux stitching on the last panel to give it some interest…again, you don’t want to use flowers (well, you do WANT to use them) or anything that will prevent the card from staying closed.

A little close up of my alteration (check out those  bird legs!):

Here’s the full card when it’s open (sorry – it was really hard to get it all in one shot):

Even after all that marathon creating, I couldn’t stop there.  I decided to make a little gift to go with the card and to make some matching packaging (by now you must know that I like my gifts coordinated!).  The illustration on the stamp inspired me to make the first (to the best of my knowledge) unofficial Rachelle Anne Miller (RAM) stuffed toys! (P.S.  I can’t sew…please don’t laugh at my wonky seams – unless you’re in need of a laugh…if so, go ahead, I won’t hear you anyway!)

The two sheets of Basic Grey patterned paper I used for this project were more than enough to make the card (with decorated panels) and the gift bag.  I’ve even got enough left to make a card or two!  There are lots of tutorials on making bags from paper.  This one didn’t come from a tutorial – I used the box in a bag template from SCS to make some wedding favours last year so I’ve got lots of practice – I just used the basic construction concept from that and added some fun details to make my bag a little more purse -like. (my sewing machine got quite the workout this week.)

The stuffed toys were made from felt.  I used a little more wrinkle ribbon for the bow just because it’s nice to match things up if you can.  The freckles are french knots and the nose and the mouth are just stitched with embroidery floss…I was copying the face on the stamped image – he’s kind of looking off to the side.  Oh, and the eyes are brads!

Here’s the card next to the gift bag (a little tissue paper would have looked good…):

If you’re still with me, just a few housekeeping items and you’ll be on your way.

To enter for a chance to win one of these new stamps, just leave a comment.  8 winners will be randomly chosen – visit each blog for more chances to win.  Here’s a complete list of the participants in today’s blog hop:

PWCO BLOG

Steph S

Cabio

Kelly <———————————– you are here!

Lisa

Silvia

Jenny

Steph J

Karen Lynn

Bella

Danielle

Sunghee

PWCO BLOG

Peggy at PWCO is offering a special this weekend:

10% off on ALL PWCO STAMPS.  Code in “PWCO stamps” on the discount section when you checkout.   Offer is good till Monday night (July 19th)

After you leave a comment, please go to Lisa’s blog to continue the blog hop.