Gift Packaging - My new "Passion"

Hello!! Has anyone been home in blog land??? Lets just say the electronic gremlins had a blast at our house in December - both my computer and my youngest DD computers were in the shop - thankfully both under warrranty -so we shared a super slow XP version of windows and with schoolwork taking priority - the ol bloggerooo fell by the wayside...and to top it off ..both my little point and shoot cameras died (well one had help from me when I broke the battery putting it back in...don't ask LOL)

I had great plans for the 8 days of Chanukah - which has long since past - I was in a Chanukah swap at scrapbook.com and made lots of Goodies for Holly - which I can show you over the next few days now that my computer is functioning and Holly has opened her packages

So for today - I'm going to show you my newest Passion - using my papercrafting products and skills to make gift packaging!!

It all started with this one....

I made a minialbum that was too fat
(what a surprise - I over embellished) so I made a box to keep it in. I'll show the album another day.

Then one night while watching TV with the girls I started to crochet a box(see post below) and decided to make one with a handle - this bag holds another gift for Holly - A Tzedakah (charity) box - that I'll show you later

For the box on the right - I took a popcorn box and opened it up - traced it on purple cardstock - stamped the paper - made the box and decorated. The little one in the front I just scored and folded till it was the right size. Inside is a fabric covered dreidle and some fabric covered buttons. I forgot to take a picture :( but I used some Judaic fabric from JoAnn Crafts and the dritz button making kit. I free hand cut a dreidle, put on some batting and covered with fabric. The back was yucky so I cut another dreidle from cardstock and glued it to cover up the back.

During this process - I found a new favorite supply ----RIBBON -



Ever get tired of the cost of gift bags in the stores? Well here are a couple that I made with cardstock, stamps and embellies from my stash.

I got a Gypsy for my Cricut for Chanukah and am hoping to use it to make some more gift presentations.

Happy New Year to y'all!! I hope to be more consistent in blogging

Crochet Box

Most of my crafting has been papercrafting lately. But I have recently started to crochet again. I'm in a Chanukah swap over at Scrapbook.com and having a blast with it! We are to make 8 items for our buddy - so what does this have to do with crochet? Well I decided I was going to present my gifts to Holly (my buddy) in non traditional ways - no store bought wrapping paper
That wasn't a swap requirement but I thought it would be fun! So I made this little crochet "box". It turns out I'm not going to be using it for Hollly as its not a size that I'll need. Isn't it cute? It was really easy to make. I just crocheted 5 squares of about the same size - actually they are rectangles. Slip stitch the 4 sides to the bottom to make like a "t" and then stitch the sides together. I may make a lettersize one to leave on the desk in our kitchen for the incoming mail I haven't dealt with yet.

Don't forget to stop by Craft It Wednesday! Participating in that blog has really helped me with consistancy and the stuff there is so fun to see!

Finally a LO!

I'm finally ready to post another LO - I've been doing an amazing amount of paper crafting lately but it seems like I haven't made any SB pages in forever. This picture is really lousy but I'm off to drive carpool in a bit and I wanted to post. Those of you who know me IRL know I'm a messy creative worker and the proof of a messy desk is in this picture - that I failed to cover up with the pink c/s LOL

I got some of this paper at HSN a year or so ago - I think its by 3 Birds? Made the LO really fast an easy - and I love it - I love houndstooth and shimmer - so win win! I made an embellishment from a butterfly in the SU! set Natures Beauty using my new "must have" versamark and embossing powder - black this time. The printed type paper is MM and the c/s is Pink Piroquette by SU! (I miss this color!)

Somewhere sometime I collected a package of transparency sayings and this one just "spoke to me"

Do Not Dwell in the past
do not dream of the future
Concentrate Your Mind
on the present moment - Buddah





Till next time! Thanks for visiting!!

Bella Blu Cards

I'm loving SU!s Bella Blu patterned paper. I've had so much fun making cards with it....Here are a few.

I think this may be one of my favorite cards! But lately I keep saying that! This card was so much fun - I just kept playing.

I took some lace and sponged it with SU! almost navy classic ink - I used scor-tape to attach it to a piece of almost navy c/s that I trimmed with my new border punch (too lazy to go downstairs and get the name, upper crest maybe?) And then I added some pearl "ribbon" also from Hobby Lobby to cover up the adhesive line. You can't see in the photo but the lace and c/s has a bit of glimmer to it cuz I sprayed it with Frost Glimmer mist. The almost navy c/s mat on the card front is also glimmered. The stamp set is SU! Friends 24-7 which has become one of my most frequently used sets

Here is a close up of the lace border.

Lately - I've been trying to make stuff with the "leftovers" when I work on a project. I end up having so many coordinating stuff laying around why not? Here is one I did with the leftovers from the one above.

I used sahara sand cardstock that I had embossed with a cuttlebug folder. You can't really see in the photo the ivory layer in the border is satin ribbon - I've become a ribbon fanatic!! I decided to try another paper rose (made from apples LOL) and used some Recollections/Michaels bling for the center.

Here is a close up of the rose. I think I like the one on the birthday card better.

Thats all for today!! Thanks for stopping by! Till next time!

Happy Birthday with a Rose

Do you ever make a project that has an aspect that you just love?

I've wanted to make nice 3D paper flower embellishements for a long time. As a kid I used to make beaded flowers - I guess I've always liked to craft flowers.

I like Prima's but they can get pricey and I end up not having the color I want for whatever I'm working on. So today I made this rose. Its my dear friend Eleanor's birthday this week and here is the card I made her. I'm not seeing her till tomorrow but I assume its "safe" to show here now.




















Here's a close up of the Rose - isn't it awesome ?- I know I'm so humble LOL. Wanna know how I made it?

I took a bunch of apple shaped punchies. I put them on a mouse pad and smooshed around with a big embossing tool (I used the Chatterbox Empressor from ages ago) till each apple was kinda cupped - I cut off the stems. Then I made a small circle and put glue dots on it and then I staggered the apples around the circle and kept adding new layers . The center is an inverted apple held on by more glue dots. I kept messing with the "petals" till I liked the shape.

Up to now - these were all white - then I had fun with my glimmer mist - I just kept spraying a bunch of different colors. After it dried - I took some chalk on a pom pom and added a bit of color to the spots that were still white.

The leaves were punched and I used tweezers to run them through the left over glimmer mist on my nonstick mat. Attached with...glue dots of course LOL

Inside is a treat! I think I'm gonna have to jazz up the inside before I see her tomorrow ! Hope you liked this - thanks for stopping by! Till next time!

Halloween Goodness

I made some cute paper backpacks for my DD to give to her friends for Halloween. I've seen these made on a couple of blogs but here is where I saw them first and is a great webstite for directions and inspiration in general!. http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/2008/09/start-with-piece-of-cardstock-measuring.html. DD is 19 and typically has no desire/patience for Mom's paper projects - but this one sparked her interest when she saw one I'd made and I'm making 12 for her to give to her college friends...

P.S. If any of you blog readers can help this computer illiterate person - what do I need to do to get the link to inkingidaho to post as a link vs the url?

Ok back to the project - Here are a few of the backpacks made - aren't they cute?



Here is the back with the cute ribbon "backpack" handles!


I've never made stuff in bulk before and decided to make an assembly line - this is the only photo that came out clearly but I think you can see the process.


I used velco dots to close the flap and plan on putting mini candy bars inside the big pocket.

Hope you enjoyed these! Thanks for looking - and if you don't mind - drop a quick comment so I know if anyone's been here LOL cuz I don't know how else to know LOL!!

This has been a difficult post to make - lots of picture loading issues - but I'm so glad it worked - off to watch NCIS with my youngest - our fav show!!!

Andrea

Use it or lose it!!

Ok I've been a bad blogger!! A month since my last project posting...you know you've been away too long when you have trouble remembering your password. Well - here's to hoping I'm back sooner next time - I'll try!

Why this title? My Mom (may she rest in peace) used to say I deserved to use my "good" stuff for me - she also used to talk about "Use it or Lose" specifically in reference to aging and using one's brain to stay sharp. Sunday would have been her 80th birthday so she's been on my mind extra lately - but hey - you guys aren't here for this!! Except to say - my new approach is gonna be use that nice stuff for me - use it NOW!! Don't save it all for "best" - I'm refering to lots in my life but for the purposes of this blog - for my crafting stuff. I recently moved to a larger space and have my own SB room - and thus have access to stuff I've stashed for years - and guess what - lots of it isn't any good - a couple of ink pads had disintegrated - some rub-ons didn't work too well (but that could have been the brand) and the paper - well lets just say - I'm pickyer now LOL.

So here is (finally) a card I made for Halloween. I am sending it to my sister - but I think I'm safe to post it cuz I don't think she visits here (oops if I'm wrong).

Its a trifold Gate card that I saw at SCS and had to try.

Here is the card closed.

I used Martha Steward stamps I got on clearance at Michael's last year with versamark and SU! black embossing powder. From my stash - ribbon and rubons and the pumkins eyes are triangular bling!


When you open up the card it has several different panels to decorate. I'm going to sign my name and write a note to my sister on some orange cardstock and attach it to the open dotted patterned paper - also from my stash.

This one isn't the best photo but I wanted to show y'all the neat way the card opens.

Thanks for visiting (and letting me ramble LOL). Till next time. Andrea