Disconnected

With one semester of being both teacher and student behind me, I am sooooooooo pleased to be on a break and have the chance to get back into my craft room to actually create. Mind you, finding some stamping mojo is proving to be no small task!

I had a class with my lovely ladies at the weekend and wanted to show them some of the goodies in store in our new catalogue, as well as making a bit of packaging for a change from just all cards. We used the tag a bag gift boxes with clear covers - I love these, they are so simple to put together and incredibly versatile in how you can choose to decorate them. The ladies loved them too, although they seemed to think I tricked them with how simple they are to assemble and then gave them hard work decorating them! I just don't know what they were complaining about - colouring in and fussy cutting? What's the problem? LOL

Materials used:

• stamps - You're Lovely (SAB), En Francais
• card - whisper white, crisp cantaloupe, pistachio pudding, in colour patterned paper
• other - paper doily, scalloped tag topper punch, tag a bag gift boxes, crisp cantaloupe thick bakers twine, white ribbon, deco label die, Big Shot, dimensionals, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Versamark ink, sponge dauber, blender pen

One of the new stamp sets from our upcoming catalogue that I bought on pre-order is great for masculine cards, always a useful addition. Here's a fairly simple layout using current in colour baked brown sugar teamed with new in colour lost lagoon.

Materials used:

• stamps - Traveller, That's the Ticket
• card - baked brown sugar, very vanilla, lost lagoon
• other - sponge dauber, dimensionals, arrow embossing folder, Big Shot, baked brown sugar thick bakers twine 

Our last project is the thing I am most asked for - a birthday card. Here we are using a new stamp set called In This Together along with an old favourite Happy Hour and some watercolouring.

Materials used:

• stamps - In This Together, Happy Hour
• card - pool party, calypso coral, watercolour, dsp
• other - dimensionals, aqua painter, markers, sponge dauber

That's it for now - hopefully I'll be back soon with some more crafty goodness!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

My New BFF

I've been having a play with the Envelope Punch Board and watching videos by other talented crafters and am totally in love with this new toy. At this time of year especially - or at any time when you need gift boxes and bags - this tool is worth its weight in gold!

Here are the samples I've been making to show my ladies:

• box made from 12" x 12" card (from tutorial at this link)

Materials used:

• stamps - Merry Little Christmas
• card - real red, garden green, very vanilla, retired dsp
• other - Envelope Punch Board, chalk talk framelits dies, Big Shot, retired polka dot ribbon, dimensionals

• same box made from 9" x 9" card 

Materials used:

• stamps - Snow Swirled
• card - crumb cake, cherry cobbler, whisper white, Season of Style dsp
• other - EPB, gift bow die, Big Shot, decorative label punch, dimensionals

• and again from 6" x 6" card 

Materials used:

• stamps - More Merry Messages
• card - cherry cobbler, old olive, whisper white, Season of Style dsp
• other - EPB, Big Shot, scallop circle punch, 1" circle punch
• non SU - rosette die, hot glue gun

Here's a shot of the three boxes together so you can see the proportions:

• folded gift bag made from 12" x 12" dsp (from tutorial at this link)

Materials used:

• card - In Colour patterns paper (crisp cantaloupe)
• other - EPB, pansy punch, Victoria lace ribbon, crop-o-dile, calypso coral bakers twine, very vintage designer button, bone folder, dimensionals

• then I took the same dimensions as the bag but used card instead, adapted the lid a little and turned it into a box with a belly band

Materials used:

• card - old olive, cherry cobbler, retired Xmas dsp
• other - Big Shot, dimensionals, rhinestones
• non SU - poinsettia dies, marker

• another box made from 7 1/2" square of card (from tutorial at this link)

Materials used:

• card - coastal cabana, Winter Frost dsp, silver glimmer card
• other - snow flurry die, Big Shot, dimensionals

I know there are oodles more too - you just have to Google it or YouTube it to find tons; I'll get around to that after Xmas. Oh, and did I forget to mention it also makes 66 different sized envelopes?

Soooooooooo, if you haven't got one of these yet, I am kind of wondering WHY NOT?!! lol!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers

Kez

Treat Boxes

Here's some cute little treat boxes that are quick and easy to make and can be decorated to any theme at all. They are roughly the size of a petite purse.

I first made one with a frosty Christmas theme and lots of bling and sparkle:

Materials used:

• stamps - Merry Little Christmas
• card - coastal cabana, whisper white, island indigo, silver glitter, Winter Frost dsp
• other - chalk talk framelit, Big Shot, magnetic platform, snow flurry die, 3/4" circle punch, frosted finishes embellishment, sticky strip, small oval punch, silver 1/8" ribbon

Next a blokey nautical theme:

Materials used:

• card - midnight muse, cherry cobbler, whisper white
• other - white bakers twine, word window punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, dimensionals
• non SU - digital images

And lastly a bit of Halloween fun:

Materials used:

• stamps - Halloween Bash (MDS)
• card - basic black, whisper white, pumpkin pie, Witches Brew dsp
• other - decorative label punch, large oval punch, scallop oval punch, pumpkin pie satin ribbon, dimensionals, small oval punch

Many thanks to Dawn Olchefske for sharing the template and an instructional video - you can see them on her blog HERE.

Thanks for calling in.

Cheers
Kez

Boxes and Bags

I have a class tonight making Christmas Gift Boxes and Bags, so I've been busy as a beaver making up samples to show just a few of the lovely things you can make. We won't be making all of these, but they are great for inspiration. Some of these are things that have been on my "Must Do" list for quite some time, so it's been great to finally get around to trying them!

One that I've been meaning to do for while is a Fantasy or Stepper box, so here's my first attempt. Much easier than it looks, luckily!

I also made an acetate box at last, which unfortunately was NOT easier than it looks - in fact I found it quite fiddly, so although it looks good, it won't be on the list for my class to make!

The Haute Tote bag we made for Mother's Day looks terrific in Kerry Cobbler Xmas paper.

One thing I had to try out is a carrier for the mini milk cartons - soooo cute! Love these little cartons! You can do a two or a four!

The Xmas Stocking box always looks good and especially in this year's papers:

Of course a gift card holder never goes astray and this is a different one to what I've used before. I dragged out some retired Purely Pomegranate card and papers and they look gorgeous with the crochet trim.

The old bag in a box (or is it box in a bag?) is a firm favourite - so simple to make and you can vary the size up or down.

Box #2 is terrific for little things and you can join two together to make a little carrier too:

And of course you can just do regular boxes in many variations to suit your needs:

Hope you're having fun making your own gift containers for pressies - if you'd like me to bring this class to your place, just let me know. Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers
Kez