Hello Kitty Gift Card Holder

My son just told me that his girlfriend is crazy about Hello Kitty and she loves to shop at TJ Maxx so I just had to run out and get her a TJ Maxx gift card. I also felt like I needed to make a Hello Kitty gift card holder. This is what I made. Hope she likes it! (I also hope she doesn't look at my blog until after Christmas :-)

This gift card holder is an adaptation of the one I made earlier this week.

Merry Christmas,

Vickie

Presentation is Everything!

I made some peanut brittle for our church janitor but didn't have a cute holiday tin to package it in. I decided to use a sturdy silver box that I saved from a few years back (Can you believe that store bought Christmas cards came in this box?)I lined the box with pretty tissue paper, packed the candy in a heavy duty zip top bag, and tucked a nice card inside. But my package just seemed too plain. I added a bow but still felt like it needed a little more bling. I decided to make an ornament card to match the red and silver.

I used Versa Mark to stamp the snowflake all over a scrap of paper. I heat embossed the design using silver embossing powder. next I folded the scrap in half and used my SU ornament punch to make a little card. (Just make sure the fold is below the punch line at the top of the ornament!) I attached the card with a little piece of silver cording and this is what I came up with. Not bad for a 15 minute project! Microwave peanut brittle took 10 minutes and the tag too about 5 minutes. What's not to love about that? :-)

Merry Christmas,

Vickie

Gift Card Holder

This gift card holder was made with the sizzix Two Tags Die by Stampin Up.

To make the sleeve, cut cardstock 4 inches x 5 1/2 inches and score at 2 1/2 inches and 5 inches. Fold all score lines.

Adhere decorative paper 2 1/4 inches x 3 3/4 inches to front of holder. Use 1 1/4 circle punch to punch a half circle out of right side of sleeve (center carefully!)

Use sticky strip along 1/2 wide section to seal long edge of sleeve closed. The short sides are open.

For the insert (this is the part that holds the actual card), cut a 3 x 11 inch piece of cardstock and score at 5 1/2 inches. Fold at score line. Place the cardstock over the Two Tags Die with the folded edge just inside of the cutting line and ran it through the Sizzix Big Shot. Staple the scalloped end closed (aprox 1/4 inch from end)

Decorate as desired. I used a SU scalloped circle punch, 1 3/8 inch circle punch, and 1 1/4 circle punch and some stamps. I secured the scalloped circle in place with dimensionals (foam tape)

but added it only to the far end. The sleeve actually slides between the tag and the raised embellishement.

Happy Crafting,

Vickie

12 Days of Christmas Challenge

I am still playing with my friend Sharon's Cricut cartridge, Joys of the Season. I just love the simplicity of this little angel and since I am running out of time, I need to make some Christmas cards FAST. This morning I made two different cards using the angel. I plan to enter them in the

Pink Stamper's 12 days of Christmas challenge. Check it out at www.mypinkstamper.com

Merry Christmas,

Vickie

Snowman Card

What's not to love about snowmen? I stamped this cute little snowman and tree and colored in some of the details with my markers. Then I added a little glitter and some ribbon.

For the snowflake embellishment, I simply puched through the card front. I punched another snowflake from white cardstock and glittered it up. It is actually attaced to the inside of the card but shows through.

Hope you are having a fabulous holiday season!

Vickie

Another card made with Joys of the Season

This is another card made with Sharon's Cricut cartridge, Joys of the Season (I ordered my very own copy this morning!) I cut the holly on the lighter colored card at 3 inches and inked all of the edges. The holly on the polka dot card is cut at 2 1/2 inches.This cards were so much fun to make, but a little time consuming. Glad I don't plan to make this one in bulk.

Merry Christmas,

Vickie

Card made with Joys of the Season Cartridge

I made a few more Christmas cards today. I used my friend Sharon's Cricut cartridge Joys of the Season to cut the ornament at 3 1/2 inches. I also used up a pile of beautiful scraps. Each card is slightly different so I can't decide which one I like best.

Merry Christmas,

Vickie

Easy Embossed Christmas Card

I made a few more heat embossed Christmas cards this evening. I would love to use only hand made cards this year but if I run short on time I may resort to using a few "store bought." Each time I design a new card, I make about a dozen. That way I don't get bored and I have a wide variety of cards to work with.

Merry Christmas,

Vickie

Simple Cards Made With Brenda Walton Papers

My husband and I spent the whole day Christmas shopping. By the time we got home, I just felt like I needed to think about something other than Christmas for a while so I went to my craft room. I made a few cards with some beautiful paper designed by Brenda Walton - from a K and Company stack called The Best of Brenda Walton.

I just trimmed the paper to showcase one of the lovely flowers and lightly embellished using my punches, sentiment stamps, border punch and some ribbon. I didn't really have a plan. I just played with the tools that were scattered on my desk until I found a combination that looked good to me. I like the simplicty of these cards. Sometimes less is more. (Perhaps I should have thought about that while I was out shopping today!)

Happy Stamping,

Vickie

I made this card for a young friend who is feeling down. I used my Cricut Imagine machine and the Better Together cartridge to print and cut the main image. I used a sizzix folder (I think it's called Hearts and Vines) and Big Shot to emboss the base layer. It was really quick, easy, and fun to make this little card.

Happy Stamping,

Vickie

Gingeerbread Cookie Scrapbook Page

I absolutely love the new gingerbread man punch from EK success! I was already planning to make a scrapbook about holiday baking so I knew this punch would be perfect.

I used a Sizzix die to make the cookie sheet and spatula. The journaling block was stamped and cut out free hand and the photo mats are for a 4x6 inch photo and a 2 x3 inch photo.

Did you notice that two of the gingerbread men are baked and decorated and one is still uncooked? That was my attempt at humor.

Merry Christmas,

Vickie

Christmas Ornament Scrapbook Page

I found a scrap of ornament paper tht I love and was inspired to do something with the colors, shapes, and textures in the paper. The border punch I used is from Martha Stewart (sorry I don't know the name). the ornament shape was created using a Stampin Up Ornament Punch and the Scalloped Envelope was made with a SU Sizzix Die. I just love the little "jingle" stamp on the journaling tag and the bold bright colors. Now I just need to add my photograph and a few words about the memory I am preserving.

Merry Christmas,

Vickie

Nativity Scrapbook Pages

This weekend a group of my scrapbooking friends got together for a Christmas page swap. Each of us designed a two page layout (or two single pages) and then made packages that included all the items that someone would need to recreate them. We spent the day admiring each others work, swapping kits, and creating the beautiful pages using our "kits." Each of us left with 14 amazing, complete scarpbook pages. All we have to do now is add pictures!

I have posted pictures of my pages. The characters were cut at 3 1/2 inches on my Cricut machine using the Winter Frolic cartridge. The title was cut at 4 inches. Two of the photo mats are designed to display a standard 4x6 photo and one is for a 5x7. The shaped tag at the bottom is for journaling.

Hope you are having fun crafting this holiday season ;-)

Merry Christmas,

Vickie

Altered Coupon Holder

This morning I made a little altered project. Every Christmas I find something to stuff all my Christmas receipts in so that I can quickly find them if I need to make a return. I carry those receipts in my purse throughout the holiday season. This year I found a $1 coupon organizer at Michael's and decided to alter it to make it more seasonally appropriate.

The top two pictures show the altered "receipt holder." The second picture from the bottom shows what the coupon organizer looked like in it's original packaging and the bottom picture shows what the inside of the organizer looks like. I already have a few coupons inside!

Get creative and alter something! I'd love for you to send me a picture :-)

Happy Thanksgiving,

Vickie

More Totally Tool Guy Cards

OMG! We are getting ready to go out of town to visit relatives for the holidays and I am supposed to be cleaning and packing today. What did I do with my time this morning? I made more cards with the absolutely adorable Totally Tool stamp set from Stampin Up! I went past my craft room and just couldn't help myself.

I have asked my father-in-law to work on a little project for me, so I needed an appropriate thank you card. Guess I was just planning ahead, not goofing off. Right?

Happy Thanksgiving,

Vickie

P.S. Whoever said you can't use ribbon on a man's card didn't have the right kind of ribbon!

Throwback Thursday "Cricut-less" Challenge

This is my entry in Emma's Throwback Thursday "Cricut-less" Challenge. Check out Emma's blog at http://www.creativetimeforme.com/ for all the details.

I challenged myself to make a thank you card for a guy in less than 30 minutes and this is what I came up with. I used the Totally Tool Stamp Set by Stampin Up and some really cool brads that I bought but never used before.

Happy Stamping,
Vickie

Note Card Recipe

When I need a fast and inexpensive gift and don't have time to run out to the store, I get creative. I use the following "recipe" for note cards. They are a standard size so the fit in A2 envelopes and are a breeze to assemble.

Pictures of several variations of note cards I've made in the past are above.

• Cut base cardstock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches - I use a color or pattern
• Cut white or ivory colored cardstock 4 x 5 1/4 inches and attach to base
• Cut a strip of coordinating patterned paper aprox. 1 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches and attach near top of card, leaving a little white/ivory showing above
• Attach a stamped image or some sort of medalion (mine were created by layering cardstock punched with the Scallop Circle Punch by Stampin Up, a 1 1/4 inch Circle Punch and 1 3/8 inch Circle Punch)
• Stamp an image, sentiment, or monogram on each card and decorate as desired.
• The blank space on the lower half of the card is for writing messages or corespondence.
• I package about eight of these along with envelopes and a nice pen in a fancy bag or box. They can be personalized and are another awesome way to use paper scraps that you have on hand.

Happy Stamping,

Vickie

Pumpkin Gift Bag

This little pumpkin treat bag combines elements from two projects that I've already shared on this blog. I needed a little bag for a Thanksgiving treat that I'm giving to a dear friend. While I was sorting the scraps in my craft room, I decided to make an Easy 3 x 5 Gift Bag and decorate it with the same pumpkin that I used on my Thanksgiving Card yesterday. It was very quick to assemble becuase all of the parts were already lying on the floor in my craft room. Cleaning up wasn't so bad after all!
Happy Thanksgiving,

Vickie

Matchbook Fold Card

This morning when I was supposed to be cleaning up the mess in my craft room, but I just couldn't help myself, I made this matchbook fold card. Unfortunately, I didn't clean up one single thing and now I have an even bigger mess!

I will post more detailed insturctions on how to make this card later. The base of the card is simply a piece of Very Vanilla Cardstock (4 1/4 x 11 inches) scored at 3/4 inch and 6 inches and folded up like and old fashioned matchbook.

Happy Stamping,

Vickie

Thanksgiving Cards

I felt like I needed a few Thanksgiving cards so I rummaged through my stamps, scraps and ribbons and created these cards.

The idea for creating a pumpkin using the Wide Oval Punch is not mine, but I can't remember where I first saw it. What a clever idea!

Pumpkin Card:

• I punched 3 Wide Ovals from Pumpkin Pie Cardstock and sponged the edges with a Really Rust Ink.
• The stem was cut freehand and the leaves were punched with the 2 Step Bird Punch from Stampin Up.
• A scrap of dark brown hemp dipped in glue and wrapped around an ink pen made a perfect tendril.
• The card base was made from Crumb Cake Cardstock (4 1/4 x 11 inches - scored and folded in half.)
• The largest layer is Soft Suede Cardstock (4 x 5 1/4 inches.)
• Leaves on the largest layer were stamped in Versa Mark ink.
• The sentiment was heat embossed on Crumb Cake Cardstock with copper colored embossing powder and punched with the Decorative Label Punch.
• I have no idea where I got the scrap of ribbon that I used but it matched
  fairly well.

Wreath Card:

• The card base made from Crumb Cake Cardstock (4 1/4 x 11 inches - scored and folded in half)
• The largest layer is Soft Suede Cardsotck ( 4 x 5 1/4 inches)
• The wreath (a very old stamp that has not identifying marks on it, so I can't even tell where it came from!) was stamped on Very Vanilla Cardstock (3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches) using a autumn Kaleidoscope Ink Pad.
• I added a bow made from the same scrap of ribbon that I used on the pumpkin card.
• The wreath was layered on a piece of Old Olive Cardstock (3 3/4 x3 3/4 inches.)
• The sentiment was embossed on Old Olive Cardstock with copper colored embossing powder and punched with the Wide Oval Punch.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Vickie

Your Creative Best Just Got Better. Introducing Cricut Imagine.

Your Creative Best Just Got Better. Introducing Cricut Imagine.

Click on the link above to learn about a free offer from Cricut.

Purchase any 2 Cricut Imagine Cartridges and qualify for a free tri-color Imagine ink cartridge!

Cartrdiges must be purchased by December 31, 2010 so read the details carefully!

Wishing You Cheer

Today's card is made with the stamp set Wishing You Cheer by Stampin Up and a few papers I pulled from a Christmas stack that I bought last year at Joann's.

The card base is made from Very Vanilla Cadstock (8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches - scored at 4 1/2 inches and folded in half).

The largest layer is cut at 5 1/4 x 4 inches.

The Trim piece on top was cut at 5 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches. I used my Scalloped Border Punch along the bottom edge

The ribbon is 5/8 inch wide inexpensive, vanilla satin ribbon

I attached the layers to the card front then used my Wide Oval Punch to create an opening the the card front

Next I stamped the snowman from Wishing You Cheer so he would be centered in the opening and colored him with markers

The outside sentiment was stamped on Very Vanilla Cardstock and punched with the Small Oval Punch.

I layered it on a piece of Rose Red Cardstock that was punched with the Large Oval Punch

I used Dimensionals to attache those layers to a Scalloped Oval that was punched from Marina Mist Cardstock.

I just had to add a little glitter to finish off the snowman!

Happy Stamping,

Vickie

Sparkly and Bright

Today I only took a few minutes to play with my stamps. I made two simple cards using the Sparkly and Bright stamp set by Stampin Up. The card base is made with Very Vanilla cardstock (5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches - folded in half.) The layers are made with Cherry Cobbler Cardstock and Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper. I used several punches and scraps of Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, and Very Vanilla Cardstock and Chocolate Chip Ink. Rudolph's nose is colored with a marker. I am going to add some Crystal Efffects. I think he is so stinkin' cute.

Happy Stamping,

Vickie

Quick Owl Treat Bags

Today the kids in our church youth group raked leaves for those in need, so we treated them to lunch afterwards. I decided to make some quick treat bags. This is what I came up with. I completed fifteen bags in less than and hour.

I used my Big Shot die cutting machine and the Top Note Die from Stampin Up to cut some leaf paper. I folded the Top Notes in half and sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip Ink. The toppers were stapled on to some clear plastic bags filled with candy. (I got my bags in the candy making section of my local craft store)

I used my Owl Punch from Stampin Up to make these cute little owls. This was a great way to use up scraps! 7mm wiggle eyes were attached with mini glue dots.

The sentiment is stamped with Soft Suede Ink on Very Vanilla Cardstock and punched out with the Word Window Punch . I layered the sentiment over a piece of Soft Suede Cardstock that was punched with the Modern Label Punch.

Happy Stamping,

Vickie

Card Made With Welcome Christmas Set

This card is similar to the one below. I used gold heat embossing powder, Very Vanilla and Brushed Gold cardstocks and a stamp from Welcome Christmas by Stampin Up. The Sentiment is from the Four the Holidays stamp set by Stampin Up.

Come to Bethlehem Christmas Card

Tonight I made about 8 Christmas Cards. They aren't all the same, but they are similar. The basic recipe is below. My goal was to make a card that was simple but classic since I need a large number of cards for an exchange at church. Can't decide which one I like best!

• Base - Very Vanilla cardstock 8 1/2 inches x 5 1/2 inches - scored at 4 1/4 and folded in half


• Largest Layer - Night of Navy cardstock 4 x 5 1/4


• Emboss laragest layer with Cuttlebug or Big Shot and an embossing folder (I tried a couple of different choices)


• Stamp is from the set Come to Bethlehem by Stampin Up


• Stamp image with Versa Mark on Very Vanilla cardstock (2 1/4 x 4 inches)


• Heat emboss with silver embossing powder.


• Layer stamped image on Brushed Silver cardstock (2 1/2 x 4 1/4) and adhere it in place with dimensionals.


• Embellish card with vanilla satin ribbon


• Stamp sentiment inside using Night of Navy ink

Happy Stamping,

Vickie