Constantly Stamping

Happy New Year!

 

 

Sweet MDS Hybrid Valentine Treat Bag

OK...yes I know it is New Year's Eve, but honestly, it isn't too early to think about Valentine's Day. I have had a wonderful holiday season, but it is just time to move ahead. Yesterday I decided that I wanted to do make something...anything...but what? So I decided to check out the MDS website. I haven't been there in a while and I was curious to see what new downloads are available. That is when I stumbled onto this gem. It's the Sweetest Ever Valentine Designer Template (#129009). For only $9.95 (US) this download includes pre-designed lollipop cover, mini chocolate wraps, medium cello bag treat toppers, a candybar wrapper and some cuter than cute lables and tags. They are already designed, so all you have to do is print, cut, and assemble. Those applications are so obvious, so I thought why not see what else I could come up with using this fun download.

This is what I came up with. I started with a 5"x12" piece of DSP from the new mini catalog, folded it in half and used a new die from the Occassions Mini Catalog (available January 4th, 2012) along with a bunch of other goodies from the new mini. Did I mention that you are going to flip when you see the new mini catalog? OMG! There are so many fabulous new products. I hope you saved some of your Christmas cash, because you are gonna have to have just about all of it!

Well, that is about it for now. Have a wonderful and safe New Year's celebration and I will see you next year!

Super Easy Low-Sew Curling Iron Cover

I have been doing a lot of traveling lately and have needed a way to store my curling iron when I am on the go. So today I got inspired to make a curling iron cover. I needed something that would be heat resistent. That's when it hit me. Why not use an oven mitt? I had a brand new mitt just begging to be put to the test. I cut off the thumb portion, turned it inside-out and stitched up the side. Then I just turned it and volia...a super easy and pretty cover for my In-Styler. If you don't have a sewing machine or know how to sew, just use the oven mitt as is...it couldn't be easier that that! I know this isn't exactly a stamping/paper crafting project, but I just had to share!

Organizing...for the New Year!

With the new year just few days away, one of my goals is the be better organized. I actually started working on this a couple of months ago. My friend, Lorri Heilig, and I have been emailing one other, encouraging each other to get our houses in order. I had accomplished so much, but then the holidays hit and everything had to stop. Soon I will have all the Christmas decorations packed away and I will be able to move forward with my endeavor. Here is one of the projects that I got done back in November. I don't have any one room where I keep all of my stamp supplies...instead I have work areas set up throughout the house. I have plans to add cabinets to my laundry room some day, but until that project is complete, I have to make do.

The first picture is the die cutting center that I have set up in my office. My office was really designed to be like a sunroom, but it is heated and cooled like all the other rooms of my house. The room is carpeted and has a double-sided fireplace that connects to the living room. There are lots of windows, so that means very little wall space. I purchased a rolling kitchen cart with a stainless steel top to house all of my die cutting supplies. I also converted a plate rack to display most of my ribbon. Since I can't reach the top shelfs easily, I use those for display.

Here is the rundown of how things are stored: Top Drawer – embossing folders/texture plates/extra scissors; 2^nd Drawer – misc. dies; 3^rd Drawer – Metal Sheets/Wood Sheets/etc.; Bottom Drawer – Regular Sized SU dies; Left Side – Accucut Dies/Craft Foam/Felt Sheets/Misc. Fabric; Right Side – SU XL Dies and other sizzix dies, Sizzlet Alphabet, etc. The picture to the left is the bottom drawer. I store all of my regular size dies on their side so I can get to them easily.

Hopefully I will be successful with my organizing this year. Wish me luck!

Merry Christmas

We would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year! See you soon!

 

Felted Christmast Stocking

If you have been visiting my blog, then you probably know that I enjoy felt projects...especially during the Fall and Winter months. So I decided to take that love of felt and make a fun and easy Christmas project using the Holiday Stocking die and the Circle #2 die along with felt to create a fun felted stocking. These are a fun project that you can do over the holidays. I even uploaded a video tutorial to show you how easy it is. The green on this stocking is really a pretty bright green but for some reason my camera has difficulty capturing "true greens".

Here's the video tutorial. Be sure to scroll down to see more stocking that I have made using this technique.

  

Here' are a few more "almost" finished pieces that I have been working on. I don't normally show things without the "finishing touches" on them, but if I waited any longer, I probably wouldn't have shown them at all. I will probably end up finishing them right at the last minute as I add them to packages and such, so I thought I had better get them posted today.

This stocking is almost exactly the same except I hand cut a little notch in the toe area to make it look more like an elf stocking.

White with black dots for the dalmation lover in the family.

A modern twist using charcoal felt with bright colored dots.

Red & White "Scandanivian-style" using the Snowflake Die.

Blue & White Snowflakes.

Holly Leaves and Berries using the Stocking Accents Die.

A "Merry" Christmas Card

Today I have another fun Christmas card to share. This card is sort of a tribute to Kristina Werner. I am always trying to be a better stamper/crafter, so I have been talking some classes over at Online Card Classes. This isn't really based on one particular card by Kristina, just the overall "feel" of her style. She uses alot of thick letters on ther cards and since I don't have any on hand, I made my own with the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet sizzlets dies. Since you can only cut DSP and card stock with the sizzlets, I built my letters by cutting four layers of Early Espresso card stock and then added the Cherry Cobbler layer to the very top...very cool technique! I omitted a portion of the Christmas stamp from the "Heard from the Heart" set by using a Cherry Cobbler marker and only coloring in the word "Christmas".

Even though this is a relatively simple layout, there are lots of details. The base of the card is covered with woodgrain DSP from the Frostwood Lodge collection(#124002). I die cut the tree with the Stocking Accents die (#124099) and embossed it with the Snow Burst folder (124096). I added some rhinestones that I colored with a Sharpie marker for a little needed bling. I couldn't complete a "Kristina-style" card without using a corner rounder so I gave a little chomp to the bottom corners. KW almost always uses faux stitching on her cards, but that really isn't my thing, so I left it off.

Well, that's all for today. I'm headed off to put up the Christmas Tree, so see you soon!