Constantly Stamping

Artisan Wednesday WOW - Christmas Gift-Wrapped Box

Welcome to the weekly blog hop presented by the 2013-14 Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team. I just want to take a few minutes and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Blessed New Year. I cannot find the words to adequately express how thankful I am for the many blessings I have received this year. I am expecially grateful for the opportunity to get to know the other incredible gals on our Artisan Design Team. We have developed such a close relationship over the past six months and I cherish their friendships more and more each day. I am also very grateful for each of you. Without your support there wouldn't be much of a point in having this blog. You brighten my days with your encouraging comments. Thank you so much!

I realize that today is Christmas, but I just had to share one final Christmas project. The design team had a not-so-secret gift exchange this year. I thought it would be fun to show you how I wrapped my present to Erica.

 

I just had to use those awesome Festive Flurry Framelits one more time. Now that I have tried using them with the glimmer paper, I am head-over-heals in love with both products.

One of my Christmas packaging tricks is to tie jingle bells on just about everything. I think it is a fun and inexpensive way to add some holiday cheer. It is difficult to see in this picture, but I used a cotton swab to dab some Jet Black StazOn Ink on the bells. It took away just a bit of the shine and gave the bells a bit of a tarnished look. I sponged Baked Brown Sugar Ink on the wrapping to go along with the vintage feel. I also heat embossed a tiny little tag from Very Merry Tags with pewter embossing powder to add a perfect little touch to the snowflake embellishment. Just a reminder, the holiday mini catalog goes away on January 2, 2014, so if there is anything at all that you want, you need to place an order before then.

That's all for this week's project. This is our last blog hop for 2013. We are taking next Wednesday off, but we will be back after the new year with lots of great stamping and paper crafting ideas. Now be sure to head on over to see what Erica Cerwin and the rest of the Artisan Design Team have in store for you!  Don't miss a single project... 

Artisan Wednesday WOW - SU Facebook Project

Welcome to the weekly blog hop presented by the 2013-14 Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team. December is lots of fun as we share some last minute ideas for the holidays. This week we are showcasing the projects that appeared last Friday on the Stampin' Up! Facebook page. I feel certain that most of you are busily preparing for the holidays and that includes making handmade cards. My husband saw this card and said, "hey, that needs to be our Christmas card this year." Honestly, there is a lot going on here, so I don't know if everyone on my list will receive one like this, but maybe a few will.

The first thing that you will notice is that beautiful champagne and silver glitter tree. I cut various strips of our glimmer paper and glued it to a piece of scrap white paper. Next I die cut it with the Perfect Pennants Die and the Big Shot die cut machine. I also used the Northern Flurry embossing folder to emboss snowflakes on a piece of Whisper White cardstock. (NOTE: Due to the orientation of the snowflakes, I had to emboss a piece of 4.25"x5.5" cardstock and then later adhere that piece to a matching card base.) I stamped the sentiment from "Christmas Messages" with VersaMark ink and heat embossed it with gold embossing powder. I did the same thing with the banner from "A Banner Christmas" and then trimmed it out by hand. I cheated and used some of the new Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape from the new spring mini catalog. (It will be available to you beginning in January.) It is always so difficult to capture the sparkle and shine of glitter in a photograph. I promise you that this picture does not do the card justice...it is absolutely breathtaking in real life.

Stamps:130255 (clear-mount): A Banner Christmas, 131793 (clear-mount): Christmas Messages; Ink: 102283: VersaMark® Pad; Paper: 100730: Whisper White Cardstock, 124005: Silver Glimmer Paper, 127885: Champagne Glimmer Paper; Accessories & Tools: 132193: Perfect Pennants Die, 133480: Circle Flip Card Die (star), 120902: Northern Flurry Embossing Folder, 109129: Gold Embossing Powder, 129053: Embossing Heat Tool, 119246: Rhinestones, 104430: Stampin’ Dimensionals®, 133000: Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape, 102023: Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter, 118484: Clear Mount Block E (3-7/16” x 4-7/16”), 113439: Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, 100425: 2-Way Glue Pen.

That's all for this week's project. Just in case you are wondering, we will have a blog hop on Christmas Day, so be sure to check that out. Now be sure to head on over to see what fun projects Erica Cerwin and the rest of the Artisan Design Team have in store for you!  Don't miss a single project... 

Thanksgiving Leftovers...

Unlike Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, Thanksgiving Tablescape kit leftovers are still a great thing to have around. I love the birch bark paper from the kit and I will be very sad when it is gone. To make this box I tore strips of the birch bark paper, sponged the edges with Early Espresso ink and used decopauge medium to attach them to the box. (NOTE: Early Espresso ink isn't colorfast, so carefully apply the decoupaudge medium to the back of the strips without getting any on the inked edges.)

To finish off the box I tied on some Cherry Cobbler 1" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon. Then I stamped one of the chalkboard tags (also from the kit) with White StazOn ink using the "O Holy Night" single stamp from the holiday mini catalog. If you love the birch bark paper, then be sure to check out this post.

That is all for now. Be sure to check back in a couple of days our Artisan Wednesday WOW blog hop.

Box Lid Pattern

Oops! Sometimes I forget that not everyone knows how to make things that I show on my blog. So, for those of you who want a pattern for my recent post, this is for you.

Basically you score your cardstock just a "smidge" less than 3/4" from each edge. Also, the box bottom is applied directly to the acetate sleeve with Sticky Strip adhesive. The top of the box needs to be able to slide on and off, so you put the adhesive on the corners and fold up the sides to create a seperate lid..."x" marks the spot! Hope this helps! I will try to remember next time! :)

 

 

Artisan Wednesday WOW - Tag a Bag Acetate Sleeve Box

Welcome to the weekly blog hop presented by the 2013-14 Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team. There are ten of us on the design team and our hop makes a complete circle. If you are following the hop, then you should have arrived here from Cindy Schuster's blog. Most of you probably know this by now, but just in case...each month Stampin' Up! sends us a box of goodies and we create projects that focus on those particular supplies. December is lots of fun as we share some last minute ideas for the holidays.

Last week I showed you how to make a project with the tag-a-bag gift box bottoms, so this week I have a project for all of those left-over acetate sleeves that come in the kit.

Making gift boxes with acetate isn't a new idea, but I love that you can use the sleeves from this kit. It makes it so much easier and you can have the confidence of knowing that this acetate is food-safe (which is not usually the case with acetate sheets designed for printing with your ink jet or laser jet printer.)

For this project I cut the acetate sleeve in half and covered the bottom and top with Cherry Cobbler cardstock. I was concerned that the box bottom would absorb grease from the peppermint bark candy, so I put the candy in a clear cellophane bag first, tied it closed, and then placed it inside the box. (Note: this box holds approximately 3 oz. of the peppermint bark candy.) I cut a few strips of Season of Style DSP to wrap around the box and then I sponged the edges with Early Espresso ink. (TIP: keep a microfiber cleaning cloth handy to wipe off any finger prints that you might get on the acetate.)

I really wanted this box to have a vintage feel to it, so I sponged everything with Early Espresso ink...even the chevron ribbon. For the sentiment, I cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock with one of the Chalk Talk framelits dies and stamped the greeting from Christmas Messages in Cherry Cobbler ink. I felt like the tag was a little plain, so I also stamped some flowers from the Forever With You stamp set. I scored and folded a small piece of Always Artichoke cardstock and free-hand cut the holly leaves. Finally, I topped everything off with a small Cherry Cobbler button and some Linen Thread.

That's all for this week's project. Now be sure to head on over to see what fun projects Erica Cerwin and the rest of the Artisan Design Team have in store for you!  Don't miss a single project... 

 

Artisan Wednesday WOW - Tag a Bag Gift Box

Welcome to the weekly blog hop presented by the Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team. If you are new to our blog hop, we welcome you!  There are ten of us on the design team and our hop makes a complete circle. If you are following the hop, then you should have arrived here from Cindy Schuster's blog.

Most of you probably know this by now, but just in case...each month Stampin' Up! sends us a box of goodies and we create projects that focus on those particular supplies. This week we are working from a brand new box. I decided to focus on the Tag a Bag Gift Boxes and the Season of Style DSP.

 

I love to make blackberry jam to give as Christmas gifts to family, friends, neighbors, and my husband's co-workers. This year we had a bumper crop of blackberries so I made tons of delicious jam. Every year I strive to find a unique way to decorate the jars. Some people even look forward to seeing how their yummy gifts will be adorned from year-to-year. I wanted to incorporate the Tag a Bag Gift Boxes into this years' design. It turns out that two half-pint size jars fit perfectly into the box with just a little wiggle room that is just right for filling with decorative paper shreds.

I covered the box with Season of Style DSP and stamped the perfect greeting from the Friendship Preserves stamp set. This stamp set coordinates with the Window Frames Collection Framelits so they are super simple to use with your Big Shot Machine. Did you know they also work with most home die cutting systems? Oh, and if you are looking for the perfect gift (for yourself, of course), you really need to consider the new Magnetic Platform for the Big Shot...it is definitely one of my favorite new products.

Of course, I couldn't resist adding an adorable matching bow created with the Gift Bow Bigz L Die (#129977). And how about adding some little jingle bells that match the jar rims? Don't they just add the perfect finishing touch to an already fun project!

I covered the jar lids with coordinating designer series paper cut with the Circle #2 die. I just loosened the jar rims, added the circles, and then re-tightened them. I also added a strip of dsp around the top to help give the jars a little extra stability. Here is one more quick look at this week's project.

That's all for this week's project. Now be sure to head on over to see what fun projects Erica Cerwin and the rest of the Artisan Design Team have in store for you!  Don't miss a single project...