Constantly Stamping

Vintage-Inspired Gift Packaging

When I was a child my father used to drag me to every flea market and antique store he could find...thus the love of all things old and vintage comes naturally. Practically every Saturday we were off on a different adventure to see what old "new" things we might find. These are some of the most precious memories I have of my childhood. Just me and my dad hunting for unexpected "treasures" in a sea of what most people would call junk. I have always been "daddy's girl" and to this day my dad and I will run out to a flea market or antique store together whenever we have an opportunity. Now that we live in different states, those opportunities seem to come much less often.

The project I am sharing today was inspired by those fond memories of childhood. I started by wrapping my gifts with First Edition Speciality DSP. The edges were sponged with Early Espresso ink to give it a worn, vintage feel. Next I tied on some Crumb Cake Scalloped Tulle Ribbon. The snowflake was created with Silver Glitter Paper and die out with the Snow Flurry Bigz Die. I hot glued the layers together and added a little punched paper greenery between layers (non-SU). For even more sparkle, I added some Basic Rhinestones. Then I hot glued the snowflake to the ribbon so that the person receiving the gift could slide the entire thing off and reuse it. The final touch was a tag stamped with the Merry & Type stamp set in Early Espresso ink.

 

Most likely this will be my final creative post before Christmas. My "to do" list is much too long! I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you for your support. Your uplifting comments and sweet emails are what keeps me moving forward. Thank You and may you and your loved ones have a blessed and wonderful Merry Christmas. Remember, without Christ there is no Christmas!

Related articles

Vintage Patriotic Birthday Card

The Siren Call of Milk Glass

WHAT is Vintage???? Seriously!!!

JOY Christmas Tag

I guess it is obvious that I have managed to slip in a little creative time recently. Instead of stamping, I used my Big Shot to make this cheerful Christmas tag. It all began with a Real Red card stock and the Two Tags Die. Then I used the Chevron folder to emboss it. I added a two inch strip of dsp from the Festival of Prints DSP Paper Stack. I die cut Red Glitter Paper with the Typeset Alphabet set. I added a snowflake that I cut with the Snow Flurry die and some Silver Glitter Paper. Then I used some White Sweater Trim Ribbon to create a fun bow and topped everything off with some jingle bells that I purchased from the craft store.

Someone asked me where the "to and from" is supposed to go. I suggest adding it on the back side of the tag. Wouldn't this just be so cute added to a package or gift bag?

Season of Sweets Designer Kit

These adorable treats couldn't be easier. I started with the Season of Sweets Designer Kit (126912) and added a few extras to make cute lollipop covers. The suckers came with the bows already attached with twist ties, so I removed them, punched half-circles at the bottom of the treat envelopes with a 3/4" circle punch, inserted the stick through the opening and then reattached the bows. From there it was just a matter of embellishing the front. I used the sticker strips from the kit and gave the ends a ribbon cut. Then I added a little strip of silver glitter paper.

I stamped the Christmas sentiment from the Perfect Punches set with Cherry Cobbler ink, punched them out with the coordinating punches and added them to the front of the packaging. You can make a bunch of these quickly...which is a good thing considering how hectic this time of year can be.

A Random Act of Christmas

I am excited to share an RAC from my very talented friend, Natasha Zandbergen. Natasha was my roommate at Leadership Convention back in January. I wasn't expecting a card from her, let alone a hand-stamped one, so I was extra thrilled to receive this in my mailbox today. Thanks Natasha! Be sure to check out her blog. She has lots of great paper crafting tutorials for sale.

Candy Cane Christmas

I made these adorable candy cane ornaments that I saw on Anna Wight's blog last Christmas. Truth is, I love everything she makes, particularly this time of year. I tore thing strips of gingham fabric and wrapped them around real candy canes. ..I made Crumb Cake tags from a Sizzix tag die and then stamped them with various stamps from the Merry & Type set in Early Espresso ink. I also sponged the tag edges. I made bows with some muslin fabric and ties everything together with some jute twine. The rustic jingle bells completes the look.

Merry & Type Tag

It's no secret that I enjoy giving jars of homemade jam as Christmas gifts. Here is a picture from last Christmas of a jar of apple butter that I decorated. Honestly, I thought I had already shared this, but now that I think about it, I made this on Christmas Eve and didn't bother to  post it on my blog. I cut the tag with an old Sizzix tag die and some Crumb Cake card stock. I stamped the greeting from the Merry & Type stamp set in Early Espresso ink and sponged the edges to give the tag a vintage feel. I covered the quart jar with some gingham fabric and tied on some great big bells from local craft store for a slightly unexpected whimsical look.

I am so glad I stumbled across this project because I really am struggling to get back into crafting. I still haven't pulled my stamping and crafting supplies back out of storage...it is almost depressing. But hopefully I will be able to get back to creating soon. TTFN.

Perfectly Preserved Neighbor Gifts

One of the reasons I love the Perfectly Preserved and Friendship Preserves stamp sets is that I do a decent amount of jam making each summer.  Every Christmas my neighbors have come to expect their Blackberry Jam with some different and clever packaging. This year I have a little surprise for them...not only did I make yummy blackberry jam, I also made a big batch of pear preserves. This is what some of them will receive this year.

This is one of the projects that I made with the gals at my last class. I did some simple sewing to make the burlap bags. I measured the circumference of the jar and added two inches. This gave me a 1/2" seam allowance and a little wiggle room for the jar. I also added about five inches to the height of the jar so that I would have just enough room to stitch the bottom piece closed and have some leftover at the top to tie shut. We stamped and paper-pieced the jam jars to create a fun tag. They really had fun making these and now they have one of their Christmas gifts all ready to go. 

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.