MONDAY

Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas Day.  May the birth of our Savior gives us hope for a future of love and forgiveness.  What an awesome gift we have been given.

 

FRIDAY

Well, I have been virtually non-existent this week so I am going to share a few projects today that I have been working on.  All are quick and easy.

Here are some easy envelopes I made for my grandchildren that hold a certificate inviting them to the Broadway Show Lion King in the spring.  Hope they want to go!  I know I sure do.

I used the Envelope Punch Board to create the envelopes.

The next projects are some money envelopes for my sons-in-law.  They are hard to buy for so money works well.  They also got one other gift.  My granddaughter also is receiving one because she will be starting an on-line college course in January and wants money to buy a new laptop.

The last projects are stockings from the November Paper Pumpkin.  Oh, my goodness, they are adorable!  I love when Paper Pumpkin gives us projects other than cards.  I have seen many ways to use these stockings.  Some have even been transformed into other things, like snowmen!  To get the embossing on the stocking, you just spray lightly with water before running it through the Big Shot.  I have seen people use spray starch or hairspray instead, but the water worked fine for me and it is less messy. It is a little hard to see in the picture, but it worked well. There were 10 in the kit and I used them for different people.  These 3 will go to my three neighbor children - filled with a Hershey bar and a candy cane.

Now to get ready for Christmas Eve with the daughters and their families.  Today I have been working on some Christmas minute-to-win-it games.  Can't wait!

FUN FOLD FRIDAY

Here is a cute gift card holder I made for our church staff members.  These were given by our Presbyterian Women's group.

This opens by lifting the flap or top of the "box".

Here are a few other pictures of the inside and how it opens and then I will give you dimensions.

• The main card base is 4 x 11 so you can two of these out of a sheet of card stock.  Score this piece at 4 - 5 1/2 - 7.
• Valley fold on the 4", mountain fold the center score and valley fold the 7". Put some Tear and Tape or Fast Fuse in between to hold it together.  This creates the "pocket" for your gift card.
• Using your retired Word Window Punch or your Classic Label Punch, punch side by side (overlapping) holes on the fold of the inside flap so that your gift card will fit inside.  Measure your gift card first so you are sure you are making your opening large enough. The third pictures shows you what this should look like.
• Slide your gift card in the slot and create an inside message for your card.
• The top of the present measures 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 and is scored in half at 2". 
• Adhere half of this piece to the back of the base card so that it can be lifted up to open like a gift.
• Adhere a few pieces of Velcro to hold the top flap down.
• Decorate with DSP and ribbon however you would like.

For some of the cards I used the little Mini Bows that are in the Holiday Catalog.  They looked really cute and saved time by not having to make the bows with the bow punch.

I am not actually sure where I got this idea so I am sorry for not giving credit.  If you type in "present gift card holder" on Pinterest you can see a couple of different versions.

WEDNESDAY

Sorry, I'm behind on posts!
I have been working on a gift for 2 friends.  I wanted to use the eclipse technique so here is what I came up with.

I also wanted to use the beautiful Year of Cheer DSP.  I used a retired angel stamp and heat embossed it in black first. The snowflakes are from the Seasonal Tags Framelits using Silver, Gold and Copper Foil Paper. I did cut the letters out of the DSP and then cut another set of letters out of black, gluing the two together before I adhered them to the card.  I popped the letters up a little with Dimensionals instead of just layering them on the black paper. You can also use the Foam Adhesive Strips instead of Dimensionals.  It might have been a little more popped up with that product. I wish the J in Joy showed up a little better.  It kind of got lost in the black embossing, but it will have to do.  You can find directions for doing the eclipse technique, if you don't know how, by going to you tube and typing in eclipse technique.

Have fun trying this technique on your own.

WEDNESDAY

I was SO excited at our Joyful Heart Stampers meeting on Saturday.  The secret gift I received was from Deb Paisie and that is ALWAYS a good thing!  I won the adorable shrinky dink necklace that I shared with you a little while ago.  I'll show it again, just because it is so cool!

Hopefully, you can click on it to make it larger so you can see it even better.  The necklace was in this cute snowman box.  This box would work for a number of  gifts - money, gift certificates, socks, a scarf, jewelry, or anything fairly flat and not too large.

I believe it was a very inexpensive box.  The hat is made from a Dollar Store sock with the end cut off.  Tie ribbon around the hat to pull it closed and wrap ribbon around the box for a "scarf".  The nose is a piece of cut cardstock.  The buttons are 1/2" punched circles.  The eyes are smaller punched circles with black rhinestones (HC) in the centers.

I'm feeling pretty happy.  Now I have to find the perfect shirt or sweater to wear with the necklace so I can show it off.

MONDAY

Today I am sharing a project I made for a secret Christmas gift exchange at our Joyful Heart Stampers Christmas dinner/meeting.

To make this I used the retired Bigz Die letters.  I have the present Framelit Letters, but they were a little smaller than what I wanted.  I also used the  retired Banners Framelits and the two sided doilies that are now retired.  The rest is current:  Year of Cheer DSP, Snowflakes from the Colorful Seasons Thinlits, Gold and Silver Foil Paper and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter Paper for the snowflakes, and rhinestone jewels.

I used the next to largest Banner Die. The small banner in between the letters  was measured at  3 x 1 1/2" and one end was punched with the Triple Banner Punch.

You could make the same large banner pieces using the present letter framelits and cut your own points at the bottom.  I think I might make one for myself if I have enough DSP left.

FRIDAY

Absent Wednesday - Sorry!

I have been trying to work out how to place my computer on my work table so I can live stream t.v. while I stamp.  After all, it is the Christmas season and I can't miss all the Hallmark love stories!  I have a t.v. in my stamp room, but it is very small and is behind me so it isn't much good for watching. Last week I set up a t.v. lap tray, but decided it took up too much room and didn't do what I wanted.  Yesterday when I was in Hobby Lobby I saw this cool shelf/storage piece that I thought would work.  So I went back today and purchased it and it was 50% off.  Yea!

Here is what it looked like originally:

I thought the shelf on the top would be perfect for my light and my laptop and the section underneath would work for my paper cutter, Simply Scored Tool and some other flat items.  The only problem was that the back was open, so whatever I put in there would slide right out the back.  SO. . . .

I took two pieces of the heavier cardboard from our DSP, put them together with packing tape and then cut the whole thing the size I needed to cover the back.  Then I covered it with retired DSP.  I poked holes in the top and bottom of the covered cardboard with the Crop-o-dile and attached the cardboard to the shelf with Mint Macaron Twine.  Here is what the back looks like.

And here is the front with the new backing:

Here is the new shelf with some of my goodies stored in the bottom.  I LOVE it!  Notice that it is NOT a Hallmark movie on the screen - just me, taking a picture.

Now I don't have to reach on the floor to get my paper cutter or Simply Scored.  I also put my foam mats and acrylic mats in the space.  There are a few things hiding under them also that I use occasionally. I can even slide my Stamp n Scrub back under a little out of the way.  I'm proud of my innovation and I'm sure I can find a few more things to put inside.