Saturday 29 October 2016

Stocking Stuffers



Did you know that as of today there are only 9 Mondays until Christmas!

With that in mind, the Seashore Stampers have decided to think about Stocking Stuffers.  Filling stockings for my family is my favorite part of  our Christmas traditions.  Choosing just the right small items for those special people in my life.  Last year my husband and I put a note in each stocking, telling that person how very much they mean to us and what qualities we admire most about them.  I believe we must take every opportunity we can to tell those we love how much they mean to us.

Now onto the reason for this post ... Stocking Stuffers.  My very favorite Stocking Stuffer is the Christmas Cracker made with Stampin'Up! designer papers.  I know many videos and tutorials can be found on Pinterest and YouTube but I must share again as I love making them.  The first video I saw was by Connie Stewart, a Stampin'Up! demonstrator in the U.S.  I have made Christmas Crackers for my family, clients and craft fairs.  They are always a success.

In case you have not seen them before, here are the instructions and photo.  The Christmas paper in the photo retired last year so is no longer available.  However, SU has lots of Christmas designer series paper that is current.

Cut a piece of DSP (designer series paper) 4 1/2 x 6 1/2.  Using your score board or trimmer, with the long side of the paper at the top, score at 1, 1 1/2, 2, 4 1/2, 5, 5 1/2.  With the short side of the paper at the top, score at 1, 2,3, 4.  Burnish all score lines. Using your Envelope Punch Board (another favorite tool), place the short side of the paper at the top and fold over along the first score line (at 1").  Put the edge at 1 1/2" and punch.  Slide the fold along to 5" and punch.  Repeat with each of the score lines (2", 3", 4").  There is a small section left - flatten out the DSP, put the small section at the top and punch at 1 1/2" and 5".   Fold up the small section covering it with Tear and Tape or Sticky Strip and stick it down.  Tie your ribbon around the cracker, fill with chocolates, tie up the other end and you are done.   First Stocking Stuffer done, now onto the rest!!!

Remember, only 9 Mondays left ... better get going.

Let's see what MiRan has made                                          


Here is the previous post by Bruni








Saturday 1 October 2016

Happy Birthday to Me



I am feeling a bit nostalgic after just celebrating a milestone birthday last month.  My day was quiet and wonderful spending it with my husband and our little dog "Ricky".  I received lots of birthday wishes, texts from my three beautiful granddaughters, a phone call from my son-in-law and lots of other messages on Facebook.  I feel truly blessed.

On that note, I decided to hold a Birthday Card class which turned out to be quite successful and inspired the card I am sharing with you today.  I featured the Butterfly Basics stamp set and the Butterflies thinlits.  I love clean and simple cards and this one is no exception.

The base card (4 1/4 x 5 1/2) is Watermelon Wonder cardstock.  The layer on the card is Whisper White which measures 4 x 5 1/4.  I ran the Whisper White cardstock through the Big Shot using the medium butterfly from the thinlits.  I used Watermelon Wonder to stamp the broken line across the bottom of the white layer and just above that I stamped the sentiment.  I adhered the white layer to the card base and placed the butterfly I had cut out into the outline of the butterfly on the card using glue dots.  The card, of course, has to have some bling, so I adhered small rhinestones down the center of the butterfly.  I finished the inside of the card with a white layer with a sentiment from the Better Together stamp set.  I also stamped two stars from that set emphasize the sentiment.