Computer Woes

Yesterday, a day when there would normally be a new blog post, was spent trying to save my laptop. Thank heavens for my resident computer "expert" (aka husband), who spent all day trying to figure out why it wouldn't wake up from hibernation, and then backing up all my data when he finally did get it to wake up.

I had pictures on my camera I needed to upload, and no way to do it. My iPad is great for checking email and general Internet surfing, but I can't do anything on my blog with it, and can't use it for uploading and editing photos from the Sony camera.

All this (too much) info just to say, Merry Christmas Eve, and here is a quick picture of the goody boxes sent out Thursday. The box is a retired Stampin' Up! large gift box, but it was the perfect size for bags of homemade sweets to be sent to loved ones!

Product List

Frosted Medallions Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Yummy Little Christmas Clear-Mount Stamp Set

Snow Place Photopolymer Stamp Set

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Gold Glimmer Paper

Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Pad

Tag Topper Scalloped Punch

Linen Thread

Retired and Retiring

Mother's Day is fast approaching, and since my mom is about 1,900 miles away, I won't get to spend the day with her. *sniff* So I decided to make a little gift to send with her card this year. It was easy to make the gift box, which holds six cards with envelopes, with the envelope punch board. (**See measurements below.)

I used some now-retired Irresistably Yours DSP because it's a nice sturdy weight for a box. And guess what?! The new annual catalog will have an all new version called Color Me Irresistable! It includes some colors, as well as all white! Cannot wait until I can get my hands on it!

The Peony closure was a breeze with a couple of punches and Filter Paper! Using four layers of the rectangle paper, I punched twice with the Blossom Punch, which is retiring the end of this month, and three times with the Pansy Punch. I stacked them all together, poked a hole in the middle with the Paper Piercing Tool, and held them together with a Mini Brad. They were then scrunched and fluffed, the edges dipped on the retiring Strawberry Slush Stampin' Pad, and spritzed with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz (also retiring).

The flower was adhered to a punched 2-3/8" scalloped circle of Strawberry Slush, then adhered to the box with Stampin' Dimensionals, leaving the top free to tuck the flap under. So, how did I mail it without crushing the flower? I made a little circle from Kraft Cardstock to protect the blossom and mailed it in a small flat rate Priority box!

** BOX (1" x 5" x 6") easily holds six embellished cards with envelopes.
Start with a 10" square of cardstock and punch/score at 4-5/8" and 6-1/8". Then use score lines to continue around the other three sides. There's a handy calculator HERE for other sizes!

STAMPS: Better Than E-Mail
CARDSTOCK: Irresistably Yours, White Filter Paper, Kraft Cardstock, Strawberry Slush
INK: Strawberry Slush, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi
ACCESSORIES: Envelope Punch Board, Blossom Punch, Pansy Punch, 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Handheld Stapler, Paper Piercing Tool, Stampin' Pierce Mat, Mini Brads, Stampin' Dimnesionals

Snowman Tea Light Ornament

I saw the most aDORable snowman tea light on Becky Roberts' blog, but wanted to turn it into an ornament to give to my team at our meeting last week. These are so quick and fun to make; all you need is some cardstock scraps, a battery-operated tea light (I found them at the dollar store), and some rhinestones or pearls. I assume you already have basic tools like adhesives, punches, and a Big Shot. (What? You don't? Well call me and let me help get you started with the necessary tools!)

SNOWMAN WITH LIGHT TURNED OFF

You can find the instructions for making it on Becky's blog here. The only thing I did differently was add a flower on the brim, and double punched the ball for the cap to enclose the ends of the gold braid for the hanger. Hot-glued that sucker so it would hold!

YOOUUU LIGHT UP MY LIFE (TELL ME YOU WEREN'T SINGING THAT IN YOUR HEAD, LOL)

I found that my tea light was a little bigger than the 1-3/8" punch, so I had to use a (non-SU) 1-1/2" punch. That put the hole for the nose off-center when I used the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch, so I trimmed off a bit of the top of the face before I punched the hole for the nose. Voila, dead center! The trimmed part was going to be hidden by the hat brim anyway.

Becky used a Sharpie to color the pearls for the eyes and mouth. I happened to have black rhinestones left over from a SU Halloween swirl that retired a couple years ago. Never did use the swirl, but the individual rhinestones sure came in handy!












That sweet little box is also from Becky. I think it's the perfect size for sweet treats, if you don't feel like making a snowman. Chocolate is always a good idea! (BTW, 12 wrapped Hershey's Nuggets fit just right. You're welcome.)

Stamps: None
Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Be of Good Cheer DSP, Window Sheets
Ink: None
Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice folder, Decorative Label Punch, Extra Large Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Black Rhinestones (retired), Multipurpose Adhesive, hot glue gun (non-SU),1-1/2" circle punch (non-SU), tea light (non-SU)

Fund Raiser Cards and Boxes!

Here are a few more cards for the fundraiser, along with the box they will go with.  The first two are thank you cards, and the second two are friendship/thinking of you cards.

I wanted  to make each one unique, yet somewhat a matched set, so I mixed up the designer paper backgrounds, stamped images, and colors a bit.

The box was so fun to make, and really has a WOW factor, I think. I got the instructions from Sudsol, posted there by the very talented Sandi McIver.  She used the Haiku DSP from a while back, so I just changed it to Tea Party DSP.

I'm going to miss the retiring designer papers, but at the same time, I am soooo excited to play with the new papers that are coming out soon!

The box below is for the cards I posted on June 1st.

Sweet Baby Girl!

I finally drove down to meet my friend Christine's new baby girl today. Well, she's four months old already, but still new! OMG, she is the sweetest little angel of a baby I have ever seen!!! She smiles and coos, snuggles into your neck when you hold her, and rarely cries, even when she gets her immunizations! AND she's slept through the night since day one!!! Christine knows, and appreciates, just how blessed she is.

So, I had to make a card and a little box for the gift I took. Thanks to the gift box class, the box was a piece of cake! I found that the sturdy glossy white paper used to back the SU Designer Series Paper packets was just the ticket for the bottom of the box. For the top, I needed something heavier than DSP, so I used Core'dinations for the top. Topped it all off with a strip of Old Olive cardstock and ribbon, then a medallion like the one I did before, only I colored the open flower with a pink Copic marker and added a pink rhinestone. Oh, and I edged the white oval with gold EP. ;-)